Jan. 13, 2007

WASHINGTON — Barely a week after convening, the 110th Congress moved to enact a bipartisan resolution condemning President George W. Bush’s plan to escalate the Iraq war by sending thousands more troops into the deadly quagmire.

Poultry workers typically stand shoulder to shoulder de-boning chicken breasts mounted on cones flying by at the rate of dozens per minute. They must wear metal mesh gloves on their non-cutting hands to protect them from the razor sharp blades they and their co-workers wield at lightening speed.

NEW YORK — Ordinary working people can do extraordinary things. Wesley Autrey, an African American NYC union construction worker, proved that Jan. 2 when he jumped in front of a speeding subway train to rescue a stricken man.

“We’re here to mourn the lives lost and we’re here to renew our call for an end to the war and for the safe return of our troops home,” Colin Eager, executive director of the Western New York Peace Center, told a New Years Day candlelight vigil in Buffalo, N.Y. It was one of more than 300 antiwar vigils in 46 states around the country marking the 3,000th U.S. death in Iraq.

SAN FRANCISCO — As the Feb. 5 date for court martial proceedings against military resister 1st Lt. Ehren Watada approaches, antiwar, faith-based and veterans organizations are building support for his right to refuse deployment to Iraq and to speak out against a war he declares is illegal.

OAKLAND, Calif. — An exuberant, standing-room-only crowd of well-wishers mirroring the city’s diverse population packed the 3,000-seat Paramount Theater Jan. 8 to celebrate the inauguration of former Congressman Ronald V. Dellums as mayor.

NEW ORLEANS: Residents say ‘Fix the levees’
DURHAM, N.C.: Trial of lacrosse players moves forward
TRENTON, N.J.: Panel calls for end to death penalty

BOSTON — A huge crowd, estimated at up to 20,000 people, witnessed the Jan. 4 inauguration of Deval Patrick, only the second African American elected governor of a U.S. state. The election of Patrick, a Democrat, ended 16 years of Republican governors in Massachusetts.

CHICAGO — The chorus from the famous labor song “Which Side Are You On?” may turn out to be a refrain in the February city elections here. The city’s Chamber of Commerce threw down the gauntlet when it declared it had a hit list of aldermen who voted for a “big box” living wage ordinance last year.

As war engulfs Iraq and Afghanistan, another region of the world has been destabilized by war — the Horn of Africa, encompassing Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.