In the mean time, largest Wisconsin protests ever…and Obama’s humiliating concession on Guantanamo…

Obama’s humiliating concession on Guantanamo

from Mark Mardell | The Reporters

One of Barack Obama’s very first acts as president was to sign an order closing the detention centre for suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

Et Tu, Barack! The Torture Continues

from WhirledView by Patricia Lee Sharpe

By Patricia Lee Sharpe

The handwriting was boldly on the wall during the first months of the Obama administration.  That?s when we learned that there would be no serious hearings?no names named let alone perpetrators punished?in the matter of torture sanctioned and carried out as U.S. government policy during the George H.W. Bush administration.  No raking up the past, the Obama people said.  No confession.  No atonement.

The US: Waking up to class politics

from AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (IN DEPTH)
The protests in Wisconsin harken back to the old days of labour and class struggle in the US.

http://craphound.com/images/5521432545_fe54d365f3.jpg

Largest Wisconsin protests ever: 85,000+ people in Madison’s streets

from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow

If WI governor Scott Walker hoped that sneakily passing his union-busting bill would diffuse the energy of the protests that have rocked Madison, he was sadly mistaken. This weekend saw the biggest protests to date, with 85K-100K people in the streets, accompanied by donkeys, manure spreaders and tractors as the state’s farmers joined the crowds.

Breaking news: Wisconsin GOP passed controversial legislation using backdoor maneuver

from Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker

Tonight, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker passed a controversial law that will make it illegal for certain classes of public workers to bargain collectively on important issues like working conditions and benefits. Up until now, he and the state’s GOP senators had been prevented from passing the law because they didn’t have quorum?all 14 Democratic senators left the state so the bill couldn’t be voted on.

 

USA: Protests in Support of Labor Rights (Videos)

from Global Voices Online by Gina Cardenas

Written by Gina Cardenas

Across the United States words of solidarity for workers rights and concerns about a union-busting wave are circulating through popular social media sites. The Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill Protests began on February 15, 2011 in response to Republican-led measures to balance a projected 3.6 billion state budget shortfall by diminishing union-based public employee benefits and collective bargaining rights.

 

Michael Moore rallies US pro-union protesters

from Hurriyet Dailynews
Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore urged Wisconsin residents Saturday to fight against Republican efforts to strip most public workers of their collective bargaining rights, telling thousands of protesters that “Madison is only the beginning.”

 

Wisconsin protests?now with farmers (and tractors)

from Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker

convoy!.jpg

Tens of thousands of people were in Madison, Wisconsin, again this weekend, continuing to protest Governor Scott Walkers attempt to do away with collective bargaining for some state employees. We’re at Day 18 now, if you’re keeping track.


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