May
20
2013
Pablo Alvarado, 46, normally affable and soft-spoken, bristles when he’s called the Cesar Chavez of day laborers. Despite his accomplishments as director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, he doesn’t see himself as a hero. “I do this work because I love it,” he says. His manner is relaxed but his ebony eyes, deeply set into broad, copper-hued features, reveal fierce determination.
As a child in the farming village of El Níspero in El Salvador, …
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May
20
2013
When it comes to confronting the Israeli government’s actions against the Palestinian people, a massive divide exists between Arab rulers and the general Arab public.
Currently, nearly all Arab governments are willing to normalize relations with the Zionist state, despite a lack of support from domestic populations that remain committed to resistance. Some Arab states, such as Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar, have formally normalized relations with Israel through treaties that have been in effect for decades.
At …
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May
20
2013
Washington – An elite group of federal employees is set to receive cash bonuses despite this year’s automatic budget cuts, according to a report that a Senate subcommittee issued Friday.
The report revealed that members of the government’s highly paid Senior Executive Service – who make up less than 1 percent of the federal workforce – had received more than $340 million in bonuses from 2008 through 2011. The bonuses came on top of annual salaries …
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May
20
2013
Archaeologists just south of Kabul are racing to preserve one of the richest Buddhist historical sites ever found.
The ancient monasteries and statues in Mes Aynak are under threat from a Chinese company which plans to develop the area in order to tap into the world’s second largest copper deposit.
Many fear the $3bn mining contract, Afghanistan’s biggest commercial deal, will lead to the destruction of thousands-of-years old heritage sites.
Click here to see the video. …
May
20
2013
Thousands of workers employed by Dubai’s largest construction company have gone on strike for a second day to back wage demands in a rare labour protest in the Gulf emirate, where trade unions are banned.
Blue-collared labourers employed by Arabtec, the company behind projects including the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa, did not show up for work on Sunday, said a spokesman for the company, UAE’s labour ministry and workers.
Employees said the strike began on Saturday …
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May
20
2013
Despite the 37 bills to repeal it and the scores of lawsuits filed against it, Obamacare, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act, is going to be in full swing soon. But the historic health insurance reform law is going to face many more bumps in the road as it is rolled out. One corner of Obamacare that hasn’t gotten much attention is the fact that it will not require employers to cover spouses, which experts say …
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May
20
2013
“We don’t want a country where abortion is simply outlawed. We want a country where it isn’t even considered,” said Representative Paul Ryan in a speech a few weeks ago.
It’s not as far off as you think. In just the past several weeks, the Kansas legislature passed a sweeping new bill that says life begins at conception. This follows on the heels of North Dakota’s ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat is found …
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May
20
2013
VATICAN CITY, May 18 (Reuters) – Pope Francis shared personal moments with 200,000 people on Saturday, telling them he sometimes nods off while praying at the end of a long day and that it “breaks my heart” that the death of a homeless person is not news.
Francis, who has made straight talk and simplicity a hallmark of his papacy, made his unscripted comments in answers to questions by four people at a huge international gathering …
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May
20
2013
A few months ago, I wrote about how my partner and I were called “disgusting” by a man on the street as we shared a quick goodbye kiss in the middle of the afternoon in the very gay Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea. That has turned out to be less an aberration than a symptom of far more horrific things to come. We’ve seen reports of violent attack after violent attack in New York against gays …
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May
20
2013
Congratulations, Minnesota. Nearly three years after Anoka High School student Justin Aaberg hanged himself after allegedly being subjected to anti-gay harassment, state Republicans seem to have decided that bullying is no longer a problem. The Pioneer-Press reports Monday that an anti-bullying bill has been withdrawn “after Republicans said they planned 10 hours of debate on the issue.”
Using mean, aggressive measures to get your way over a bullying bill? Anyone else feel an Alanis Morissette verse …
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