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GAY RIGHTS: Massachusetts Supreme Court Mandates Legalization of Gay Marriage |
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by ., |
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This morning, Tuesday, November 18, at 8:00AM, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an important decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, finding that the equal protection provisions of the Massachusetts State Constitution require that same-sex couples be permitted to marry. While many gay rights activists welcome this ruling, some of the more radical ones are skeptical.<br>[ <a href="http://boston.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=18416&group=webcast">full story</a> | <a href="http://boston.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=18413&group=webcast">commentary</a> | <a href="http://www.equalmarriage.org/">Equal Marriage</a> ] |
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19 Nov 2003
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Filed under: News / GLBT/Queer |
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LABOR AND HEALTHCARE: Unions and Community Groups Launch Campaign to Promote Healthcare for All |
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by ., |
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Union activists and health care reformers across the state are mobilizing for an education campaign to provide the public with more information about the reasons health insurance costs are skyrocketing and what needs to be done to make it more affordable. The campaign also gives participants a chance to ?vote? for a ?Medicare for All? solution that would cover everyone and more effectively control costs. Medicare is the federal insurance program that already covers the vast majority of people over age 65. The program?s administrative costs are less than 5 percent, while overhead for private, employer-based insurance eats up about 30 percent of health care spending.<br>[ <a href="http://boston.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=18409&group=webcast">full story</a> | <a href="http://www.massjwj.net">Massachusetts Jobs With Justice</a> ] |
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19 Nov 2003
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Filed under: News / Labor : Social Welfare |
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POLITICAL HARASSMENT: The Lucy Parsons Center, Boston's Radical Bookstore, Visited by the Secret Service |
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by ., |
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On Friday, November 7, an agent from the Secret Service paid a visit to the Lucy Parsons Center, a long-time radical bookstore and infoshop in Boston. Earlier in the week the bookstore received a suspicious piece of mail allegedly sent from the bookstore and containing questionable material. The Secret Service acting on ?intelligence reports? was investigating this mail which had been reported to the National Lawyers Guild, but not to the Secret Service. Whether this was an isolated incident, or the beginning of a larger campaign of harassment and intimidation (leading up to next summer's Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Boston) is not known to us at this point.<br>[ <a href="http://boston.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=18022&group=">full story</a> | <a href="http://www.tao.ca/~lucyparsons">Lucy Parsons Center</a> ] |
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11 Nov 2003
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Filed under: News / Human Rights |
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IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: Palestinian Activist Amer Jubran Agrees to "Voluntary" Deportation |
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by , |
Today's proceedings--the final hearing in Palestinian activist Amer Jubran's immigration case--saw the complete collapse of all pretenses to fairness, justice and objectivity. After being denied adequate time to review fifty pages of government doccuments submitted a week before his final trial, after being denied his fundamental right to be represented by effective council, and after being compelled to testify without any legal representation at all, after realizing there is no possibility for due process in this court, Amer decided to request of the court that he be granted "voluntary departure" from the United States. In March 2004, unless the government continues its persecution of him, he will return to his home in Jordan. Had the trial gone forward, it would have allowed the government to prolong the use of these proceedings as a means of conducting an illegitimate investigation not only into details of Amer's life irrelevant to the merits of the immigration case, but also, more frighteningly, into the lives of many other immigrants who are vulnerable to government harassment. Faced with this nightmare logic, coupled
with the prospect of an endless, boundless investigation that would threaten the vulnerable, Amer felt that his only choice was to request voluntary departure.
[ full story | Amer Jubran Defense Committee ] |
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07 Nov 2003
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Filed under: News / |
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CIVIL LIBERTIES: Suffolk University Student Government Passes Anti-PATRIOT Act Resolution |
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by , |
On Thursday afternoon, the Student Government Association of Suffolk University passed, by a 12 to 3 vote, with 2 abstentions, a Resolution to oppose the USA PATRIOT Act and “Patriot II” Act. This makes Suffolk University the 10th University in the nation to pass such a resolution, as well as the first in New England. The resolution, based on one passed at the University of California, Santa Barbara, holds that many fundamental rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution are threatened by the USA PATRIOT Act.
[ full story | ACLU on the PATRIOT Act ] |
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07 Nov 2003
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Filed under: News / |
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HEALTHCARE AND LABOR: Union Calls on Legislature to Support Hospital Stabilization Bill |
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by , |
SEIU Local 2020 called on the state legislature to pass a "Hospital Stabilization" law that would set up an early warning system to identify financially distressed hospitals and provide emergency short-term revenue to keep failing hospitals open and continuing to provide high-quality care. The union was moved to do this after CareGroup closed Waltham Hospital last year in spite of the fact that the Department of Public Health concluded that all of Waltham Hospital’s services were “essential” to the health care needs of Waltham and its surrounding communities.
[ full story ] |
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06 Nov 2003
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Filed under: News / |
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FTAA: DEMO: Beehive Design Collective: FTAA Roadshow is in Boston |
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by , |
On Thursday, October 16, 2003, the Beehive Design Collective gave the first of two Boston area demonstrations from their latest tour: the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) and Plan Colombia Roadshows. The demo, an in-depth portable mural of a collaborative illustrated poster project shown at the Massachusetts College of Art, was engaging, educational, and an inspiration to students and community members, young and old. The Beehive Collective uses an innovative illustration-based communication strategy that encourages open dialog on the topics of globalization, genetic engineering, colonialism and many other important social and environmental issues.
[ full story ] |
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17 Oct 2003
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Filed under: News / |
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IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: A Bostonian's Report Back on the Immigrant Workers Rights Rally in New York |
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by , |
 As the culmination of Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, on Saturday, October 4th, tens of thousands of immigrant workers joined friends and allies for a fabulous rally in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, New York. You could literally feel the joy in the air and the sense of solidarity as people from many different nations joined together for a common cause: to focus attention on immigrant rights and to help force the United States government to make pivotal changed in its current immigration policies. Speakers elaborated on their message to the leaders in Washington and elsewhere that any new immigrant policy passed by Congress must include these key requirements: Legalization and a clear and well-defined road to citizenship for all immigrant workers; the right of immigrant workers to re-unite with their families; protection of the rights of immigrant in the workplace; and protection of the civil rights and civil liberties of all.
[ full story ] |
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09 Oct 2003
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Filed under: News / |
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