Photo Essay: Migrant Farmworkers in a California Town
Taft was once a speculator's boomtown, surrounded by a forest of oil wells, hotbed the state's burgeoning petroleum industry. Today it is a divided community, home to a growing farm worker population, who work in the fields of the southern San Joaquin Valley.
Australia: Behind the Emissions Trading Defeat
In the Australian Senate last Thursday the Rudd government unsuccessfully attempted to pass legislation to introduce a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme, and to develop the renewable energy industry so that 20 percent of Australia’s electricity can be produced from renewable technology sources by 2020.
Video: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., “Fight Continues for Public Option”
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., hosted an overflow town hall meeting on health care reform August 18th. He hailed the meeting, held in a local church, as a model of civil and respectful debate and discussion. In lively back and forth with the crowd, Jackson fielded questions and invited participants to tell their stories.
State Legislators Press for Public Option in Health Reform
On the heels of media reports that the Obama administration might support a Senate bill that excludes a public insurance program, the White House Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform reiterated its support for a health reform package that includes a public insurance option.
US Supreme Court Orders New Hearing for Troy Davis
ATLANTA -- The Supreme Court of the US, in a 6-2 decision, ordered a federal judge in Georgia on Monday, August 17, 2009, to consider and rule on innocence claims brought by Georgia death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis.
Legislation to Help Postal Service Hits a Right-wing Rock
Legislation to help the Postal Service solve its projected $7 billion deficit in the year ending Sept. 30, and a similar deficit in the following 12 months, hit a major problem caused by a Radical Right GOP senator and inattentive Democrats – a rock in the road which led the nation’s two biggest postal unions to say they may have to reverse course and oppose the measure.
China: A Crucial Step Toward Curbing Emissions
Chinese officials sent an important signal Saturday, saying the country’s emissions will start falling by 2050, as announced by Su Wei, director-general of the Climate Change Department of the National Development and Reform Commission.
Obama Administration Reassures Vets on Health Reform
The White House continued to knock down false information about the President's health reform plan by addressing false rumors circulated in the right-wing media that claim reform could force veterans out of the VA health care system.
Comparing the Cost of Green Power
Making such a determination is complex, but you could start with “In My Backyard,” a new online tool by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). You first need to know your electricity usage and what size solar photovoltaic (PV) system or wind turbine you could install.
Winners and Losers in the American Warfare State
“On my last day in Iraq,” veteran McClatchy News correspondent Leila Fadel wrote August 9th, “as on my first day in Iraq, I couldn’t see what the United States and its allies had accomplished. …I couldn’t understand what thousands of American soldiers had died for and why hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had been killed.”
