This trend is especially true in school systems with many low-income and minority students, the Globe noted.
Since 2002, under the federal No Child Left Behind law, high schools have been required to provide lists of students’ names, telephone numbers, and addresses to military recruiters who ask for them, as well as to colleges and potential employers. Students who don’t want to be contacted – or their parents – have to notify school districts in writing.
The Sacramento,CA City Council, by an 8 to 1 vote on November 1, called for "a humane, orderly, rapid and comprehensive withdrawal of United States military personnel and bases from Iraq." The Council also asked Congress and Bush to deliver "promised veterans' health, education, disability, and rehabilitation benefits, and otherwise meet the needs of returning veterans." Sacramento joins a growing list of cities, including Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia, calling for withdrawal. California's capital city is the second community in the Central Valley after Davis to support an anti-war resolution.
Bravo, National Rifle Association! On October 20, 2005, Congress caved to the organization's relentless pressure and voted to pass the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" - a piece of lobbying, er, legislation designed to shield firearms manufacturers and dealers from liability lawsuits stemming from the use of their weapons in crimes. On October 26, President Bush signed the bill into law. In the words of NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, "freedom, truth, and justice prevailed" with the passage of the bill; the NRA "scored "an historic victory," "protected the sanctity of the Second Amendment," and "saved the American firearms industry," which, goodness knows, is right up there with children and whales as a worthwhile cause. "Save the guns;" now there's a slogan.
Toward Freedom: a progressive perspective on world events since 1952
Toward Freedom envisions a world ethic that honors the human spirit and the right of individuals to freedom of thought and creativity; advances movements for human rights, peace, justice, enlightenment, and freedom from oppression; and celebrates the contributions of the world's diverse cultures.
Click here to contact us or submit writing
Who We Are
Publisher: Robin Lloyd
Editor/Webmaster: Benjamin Dangl
Online Resources: Carol Liu
Editorial Assistant: Melody Zagami
Read a letter from the publisher and editor about TF's new website
Contributing Writers:
Sasha Abramsky, Barbara Nimri Aziz, Travis Charbeneau, Brian Conley, Elayne Clift, Matt Dineen, John Horvath, Albert Huebner, Ron Chepesiuk, Tod Ensign, Tokunbo Ojo, Roberto Rodriguez, Patisia Gonzales, Milan Vesely, Norman Solomon, Danny Schechter, Rene Wadlow.
Board Of Directors:
Robin Lloyd, Chair, Nat Winthrop, Vice President, Gerald Colby, Scott Harris, Joy Hopkins, Carol Liu, Anna Manzo, Jay Moore, Dave Dellinger, Emeritus Chair (1915-2004)
Advisors:
Terry Allen, Dennis Brutus, Ossie Davis (1917-2005), Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Greg Guma, Joanne Landy, Robert Nichols, Grace Paley, Martin Sheen, Brian Tokar, Anne Waldeman, Brian Wilson
Our mainstream press is fond of celebrating the world's great heroes. You know, people (mostly men) who make the time to cross the globe solo in a hot air balloon (Go Steve Forbes), or hit more home runs in a single year than anyone else (Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio?), or make more money in a single year than any other family on the planet (Thanks, Wal-Mart Waltons!). Diane Wilson
But what about ordinary folks who do something extra-ordinary? Those who get out of bed in the morning and go to work, while simultaneously managing to raise children, those who discover that the world doesn't look quite right from the front porch or the wooden comfort of the Adirondack chair?
Two years ago, in early November 2003, after a ferocious markets-based campaign in the US, an agreement was signed by US and Chilean environmental groups with the two largest wood products companies in Chile. The agreement, facilitated by Home Depot, was received as an important step forward in promoting collaborative resolution to international environmental conflicts. The agreements language binds the companies to a conservation focused solutions process with the environmental groups, and an end to the practice of the substitution of the native forest with exotic tree species plantations.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019