In the October issue:
Labor's Day
Explained
by Jim Barrett
Not usually considered a union-friendly
society, the United States recently celebrated
its 109th annual Labor Day. In recent years
Labor Day is mostly a matter of picnics and
barbecues, but it could be more. We had our
own enthusiastic observation of labor's vital
role here in Champaign-Urbana. For the second
year in a row, the Champaign County Federation
of Labor sponsored a successful Labor Day
parade and related festivities at West Side
Park. Champaign's Labor Day parade, successfully
resurrected last year after many years of
dormancy, is on its way to becoming a new
tradition. The event had all the requisite
high school bands and trucks, as well as signs
and banners conveying Labor's political agenda
and issues of vital concern like the Living
Wage. What we did not have was much discussion
of what is actually happening to Labor in
the United States (or Champaign-Urbana) at
the beginning of a new century. Everyone had
a good time, but did we really understand
what we were doing?
read more
Letters From Readers
Name That State: I am thinking
of a country — one familiar to most of
us. In this country, a state of open-ended
war exists....
Complacency is Complicity: After
the terrorist attack last September, I attended
a Rockford Peace & Justice meeting along
with many other political activists.... read
more
GEO Gears
Up for a Spring Election
by Ben Scott
This fall the Graduate Employees'
Organization, IFT/AFT (GEO) at the University
of Illinois is doing something it has never
done before: preparing for a union election.
As early as the spring semester, graduate
employees will be able to democratically elect
union representation. In so doing, they will
fulfill the goal of nearly a decade of organization
and agitation, to establish a firm voice in
the administration of their working lives.
For the first time, the conditions of graduate
student labor-most importantly health care,
workloads, grievance procedures, wages, and
work environments-will be made to answer,
at least in part, to those who live within
them... read
more
Globalization
Fails to Deliver the Goods
by Mark Weisbrot
One of the good things about
the stock market coming back down to Earth
after a prolonged bubble is that it leads
people to question other misconceptions about
the economy. When stock prices were soaring
we heard all kinds of nonsense about a "new
economy," technological revolutions,
and profit projections that were just too
miraculous to be true. The standard litany
about the wonders of globalization could be
the next myth that is ripe for debunking...
read
more
Meet
the Chickenhawks
Excerpted from The New Hampshire Gazette
A chickenhawk is a term often
applied to public persons - generally male -
who (1) tend to advocate, or are fervent supporters
of those who advocate, military solutions to
political problems, and who have personally
(2) declined to take advantage of a significant
opportunity to serve in uniform during wartime...
read
more
Monthly Art
Exhibits Coming to the IMC
By Alejandro Rodriguez
One of the most beneficial and
interesting aspects of a place like the Independent
Media Center is that it exists in a constant
state of evolution . It is always adapting
to meet the needs and desires of the community
for which it was created. In its twenty-four
month history, the IMC has been home to a
newspaper , a radio show, a concert venue,
a library, and a site for political meetings,
among other uses. In its newest incarnation,
the IMC will be home to an art gallery...
read
more
Man Arrested
by FBI for Faking Green Connections to Terrorism
by Mike Lehman
In the interests of fuller disclosure,
here is more background on a case that is
getting limited coverage in the dominant media.
Reports in the September 6-12 Cityview
and the September 7 News-Gazette
indicate that a local man, 21-year old Max
Weissberg of Champaign, was indicted this
week on a federal charge of sending a threatening
communication. Weissberg appeared in federal
court in Urbana on Friday, August 30, following
his arrest on August 26. He was released on
bond, ordered to have no access to the Internet
and then was allowed to travel to Oregon to
attend college, pending further court action
on his case. What is left unclear in the above
reports is the apparent motivation for Weissberg's
alleged threat... read
more
The Practice
and Persecution of Falun Gong
by Stephen Gregory and Dongdong Zhang
On June 12, when Hubert Zhou,
a resident of Chicago, presented his ticket
at the Icelandic Air ticket counter in Minneapolis
St.Paul airport for that evening's flight
to Iceland, rather than have his bags checked
and his boarding pass issued, he was asked
to step aside and speak to the station manager.
The manager informed Mr. Zhou that his name
was on "the list." What list? The
Iceland Ministry of Justice had given Icelandic
Air a list of individuals in the United States
and other countries around the world suspected
of being Falun Gong practitioners. Icelandic
Air was forbidden from allowing anyone on
this list to fly to Iceland. Any employees
who slipped up and allowed someone to make
the trip risked losing their jobs. No refund
was offered for the suddenly invalid ticket...
read
more
NewsPoetry
What Next? Metaphor by
Jay Morris, 25 September 2002
the oil has run out.
we saw it coming
and it did...
The Cremation Of...
by Cat Sullivan, 15 September 2002
There are strange things done under Bush's
sun
Where greedy men moil for gold;
They have no care for the fetid air
Breathed by the young and old...
read
more
March
IMC Calendar
Middle
Room Gallery
Past Issues
Aug2001
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