Category: Civil Rights

President-elect Barack Obama put himself on the side of the workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory Sunday:“When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right,” Obama said Sunday at a news conference.

The worker occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors factory on Chicago’s Goose Island by members of UE Local 1110 went into its third day on Sunday, and workers have vowed to continue the occupation until they are paid back pay and benefits, or until the plant is re-opened. An rally was held Saturday in support of the occupying workers.

BILL AYERS: In the recently concluded presidential race, I was unwillingly thrust upon the stage and asked to play a role in a profoundly dishonest drama. I refused, and here’s why. Unable to challenge the content of Barack Obama’s campaign, his opponents invented a narrative about a young politician who emerged from nowhere, a man of charm, intelligence and skill, but with an exotic background and a strange name.

Workers who got three days’ notice that their factory was shutting its doors have occupied the building and say they won’t go home without assurances they’ll get severance and vacation pay.
About 250 union workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant in shifts Saturday while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind.

Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, shut down the country’s legislature yesterday until January 26, in an effort to avoid a no-confidence vote that he was about to lose. This has provoked a constitutional crisis. Canada’s parliamentary opposition reacted with outrage. The opposition accused Harper of undermining Canada’s democracy. Thousands demonstrated yesterday in protest of the shut-down.

Though many on the left put forth an analysis that appreciated the importance of defeating McCain and the Republican party, few of us were prepared for the raw emotion that surfaced in the wake of Barack Obama’s victory on November 4th. Cities across the US celebrated spontaneously in the streets and it seemed like the whole world celebrated with them. People’s feelings of joy can be attributed to a wide range of reasons, but a few of them seem primary.

The American mainstream media has finally broken the story of the deployment of US combat troops inside America, news that the alternative blog media have been announcing and discussing since early September, three months ago. The deployment of US troops inside the country is the first time this has been done, plus it is in violation of American traditions and a number of laws, such as the Posse Comitatis Act. Here is the Washington Post article, which talks about 20,000 troops in 2 years.

Miami housing activists are organizing homeless people to illegally move into foreclosed homes. “We’re matching homeless people with people-less homes,” Max Rameau said with a grin. Rameau is part of a group of like-minded advocates who have formed Take Back the Land, which so far have moved six families into foreclosed homes, with nine on a waiting list. The organization also helps the new “tenants” with secondhand furniture, cleaning supplies and yard upkeep.

Eight members of the RNC Welcoming Committee were arrested and are awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to commit second-degree riot. They are accused of plotting to shut down the convention by blockading roads. They’re also accused of planning criminal damage to property, including use of incendiary devices. Many allegations are based on reports from the undercover personnel. A deputy sheriff and two others infiltrated the RNC Welcoming Committee before GOP convention.

At least 34 anti-government protesters in Thailand, who for months have occupied the prime minister’s office in Bangkok, have been injured in a grenade attack. The latest blast comes amid a standoff between police and thousands of demonstrators who have occupied Bangkok’s main airports, crippling the country’s tourism industry.

MARK RUDD: Just the mere mention of the names Hillary Clinton and Lawrence Summers alone conjure up a litany of horrendous right-wingers appointed to top level positions. Betrayal is the name of the game.
But wait a second. Let’s talk about a few things:

Associated Press article : In Franken vs. Coleman Senate race recount – Minnesota board refuses voided absentee ballots but opens way for legal battle – 3,600 ballots remain to be recounted.