Month: April 2007
After McDonald’s Victory, Labor Activists Target Burger King
It took four years for Taco Bell's parent company to agree to demands that the restaurant take responsibility for the wages and working conditions of migrant laborers who pick its tomatoes. It took another two years for McDonald's to accept a similar deal.
Barack Obama’s Foreign & Military Policies: Old Wine in a New Bottle?
There is a tradition of a large sector of the U.S. peace movement identifying with and being co-opted by what it perceives to be the most liberal and/or charismatic presidential candidate. As we saw in the first years of the Carter and Clinton presidencies, there is often a felt need to believe that with a Democratic president in office, there is little need to take a critical view or for mobilization.
Audio: Iranian Women Speak Out
Women's rights activists marched through the English capital to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city.
Middle East Nuclear-weapon Free Zone: A Serious Start?
Mohamed ElBaradei, Director of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called on Iran and Israel to enter into serious negotiations to create a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East - a zone in which both Israel and Iran would be members. He was speaking on April 15, 2007 following talks in Jordan with King Abdullah II. Jordan, caught between Iraq and growing tensions between Israel and Palestine, has been trying to play a more active role of regional peacemaker.
Soy cultivation spells doom for Paraguayan campesinos
Rural eastern Paraguay used to be full of jungle, small farms, schools and wildlife. Now it is a green sea of soybeans. The families, trees and birds are gone. The schools are empty. The air is filled with the toxic stench of the pesticides like paraquat and 2,4-D used to protect the soy crops.