Issue 700 | July 3, 2009

War and Antiwar

  • Our delegation of 65 American and international activists traveled to Gaza to witness the destruction from what Palestinians call "the last war."

  • The once-forgotten "good war" in Afghanistan now captures headlines daily as NATO forces face intensified fighting and further instability.

Economy

  • There are two Seattles--one for the wealthy few and another for the vast majority of people who barely scrape by, and sometimes not even that.

National

  • On a bright, warm afternoon, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott finally walked out of a Texas jail after a judge ordered them released.

  • I was horrified but not surprised by the deadly collision on the Red Line in Washington, D.C.--regular riders know it wasn't a question of if, but when.

  • Two leading civil rights and immigrant rights activists have been charged with felonies in separate cases, and face possible prison time.

  • Trey Joyner will never get to tell what happened when police shot him in the back. And information seems as hard to get out of the authorities.

International

  • Is a radical change possible in Iran? Answering that question requires a look at Iranian history, politics and society beyond the disputed June 12 election.

Opinion

Labor

Activist News

  • Millions of people turned out in cities across the country in June for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride celebrations.

  • Nearly 1,000 people from across the U.S. gathered in Chicago over the weekend for the first Socialism 2009 conference.

  • The drive by California politicians to balance their budget on the backs of the most vulnerable continues to touch off dissent.

  • British antiwar activist George Galloway gave a rousing speech in Chicago to raise funds for an aid convoy from the U.S. to Gaza.

  • More than 75 supporters of UE Local 1174 members at Quad City Die Casting in Iowa protested Wells Fargo Bank in Chicago.

  • San Diego activists gathered in front of a CVS Pharmacy as part of a national campaign against the company's unethical and racist sales practices.

Readers' Views

  • Two Sacramento disc jockeys who spewed hate about transgender youth were met by an outpouring of anger across the country.

  • French President Nicolas Sarkozy took time out from waging war on the working class to set his sights on a favorite target: French Muslims.

Books and Entertainment

  • Not-for-profit hospitals are actually for-profit hospitals, according to the new documentary Do No Harm.