Blog for Peace and Freedom

This Perspective article from the World Socialist Web Site. (wsws.org)

After the defeat in Massachusetts, Democrats lurch to the right
by Patrick Martin
8 February 2010

The three weeks since the special election to the US Senate in Massachusetts have seen a deepening political crisis of the Democratic Party. The party which controls the White House and has huge majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives has bowed and scraped before the minority Republican Party, which was repudiated by the electorate in the 2008 election.

On January 29, President Obama, as part of his “outreach” to the Republicans, met with the entire House Republican caucus—whose members include several co-thinkers of the “birthers,” the ultra-right elements who claim Obama is of foreign birth and hence occupies the White House illegitimately.

Obama announced later that he would begin to hold regular meetings with the House and Senate Republican leaders (along with their Democratic counterparts), something rarely done by President George W. Bush when the Democrats were in the minority. More…

This link to article posted on the World Socialist Web Site. (wsws.org)

Obama budget threatens funding for poor school districts
By Kate Randall
8 February 2010

The Obama administration’s budget proposal for 2011 contains sweeping changes to funding for primary and secondary education. New rules would radically alter the guidelines for the distribution of funding to schools with high concentrations of low-income students, punishing students and teachers in these schools for failure to meet “college- or career-readiness” goals. More…

According to this Washington Post report:

A radioactive substance recently found in groundwater monitoring wells at a Vermont nuclear plant has turned up again at levels more than nine times those previously reported and more than 37 times higher than a federal safe drinking water limit, officials said Thursday.

Officials at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, state Health Department and federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said a newly dug monitoring well at the Vernon reactor turned up a reading of nearly 775,000 picocuries per liter. It was by far the highest reading reported yet for tritium, which has been linked to cancer when ingested in large amounts.

Despite the much higher reading, an NRC spokeswoman said Thursday there was nothing to fear.

A new Fresno ordinance would ban homeless people from standing on medians and asking for money. The Fresno City Council gave tentative approval to the measure at its meeting yesterday. Nonprofit community groups wanting to solicit money from median strips would have to get a permit. Homeless people and their advocates called the measure discriminatory.

Al Williams, a homeless man who says he uses the median islands to collect money, said the ordinance would discriminate against the poor. At yesterday’s City Council meeting, Williams said “you all beg for money when you run for office. Each of you all do. What makes you better than me? You know, you are a human being, just like a lot of the people out there are trying to make an honest dollar. Churches beg for money, Kids Day begs for money and the police department and the Fire department begs for money, but you want to criminalize a poor person for asking form money. That is inhumane and despicable.”

Read more…

This Perspective article first appeared on the World Socialist Web Site. (wsws.org)

US to launch Fallujah-style attack in Afghanistan
6 February 2010

As US and British troops prepare to attack the town of Marjah in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, military commanders and the media are openly comparing the operation to the November 2004 siege of Fallujah, one of the bloodiest war crimes of the Iraq war.

The operation in central Helmand province, long an area of intense resistance to the US-led occupation, will constitute the largest military offensive since Washington invaded the country in October 2001. At least 15,000 troops are expected to lay siege to the Helmand river valley town, which has 80,000 inhabitants and is said by the US military to be a stronghold of the Taliban. More…

This article originally posted on the World Socialist Web Site. (wsws.org)

Anger toward UAW erupts at California auto workers meeting
By Tom Eley
6 February 2010

Anger among workers at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, California, toward the United Auto Workers (UAW) exploded at a January 24 meeting discussing the imminent closure of the facility. Nearly 5,000 workers will lose their jobs when the plant, formerly a joint venture of General Motors and Toyota, closes on March 31. Four hundred or so workers were present at the meeting.

Several attendees captured the eruption on video, which began during comments by UAW Local 2244 Bargaining Chairman Javier Contreras. Contreras was booed, jeered, and interrupted as he attempted to present details of the severance package. At one point an outraged older worker demanded to know “where the hell” the union official had been for the last six months. Contreras burst out, “Shut the f— up, you motherf——!” At that point, furious workers rushed to the front of the room. Contreras and other local UAW personnel were defended by a few union officials. Local union leaders pleaded for calm and called in the police in a bid to control the workers. More…

CNN reports:

Newborn babies in the United States are routinely screened for a panel of genetic diseases. Since the testing is mandated by the government, it’s often done without the parents’ consent.

In California, DNA specimens taken from babies are held indefinitely.