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[For a
more comprehensive listing of regional news articles and working class
commentary
check out the Lake Superior Socialist Action
website.]
 Call 4 a United
Anti-War Movement
September 24, 2005 has been
set as the date for national demonstrations by the U.S. antiwar movement.
We will return to the streets of the nation’s capital, and elsewhere, with
a force determined to challenge the continuation of a brutal and immoral
war and occupation. That the Iraqi War is the central issue in world
politics today is not in dispute. Neither is the fact that there is a
rapidly growing opposition to this war in the United States and across the
globe. The potential for a truly massive turnout that can open the door
wider than ever to our movement’s expressing the will of tens of millions
is within reach. continued . . .
WI & the
American Transmission Company Gang Up on Workers & Farmers
For years the American
Transmission Company has been trying, with a lot of success, to intimidate
and bribe local governments, courts and regulatory bodies to give it a
green light for the Arrowhead-Weston line. The Arrowhead-Weston, if
built, will be a massive 345 Kilovolt (that’s 345,000 volts!) bulk
transmission line that will allow ATC to sell cheap electricity from the
Manitoba Hydro project in Canada to the Chicago area, where it could make a
handsome profit underselling existing electric providers. continued . . .
Rally Kicks
Off Picketing @ Spot Bar in I Falls
UNITE
HERE Local 99 took their frustrations with Bill Fisher, new owner of the
Spot Bar in International Falls, to the street last Friday. By 7:30 the community had gotten behind
the workers and their union to the point that Fisher closed his restaurant
because he had no business. continued . . .
Don’t Patronize
Union-Busting Spot Bar in I Falls
The Spot Firehouse Restaurant in International Falls has
been a union restaurant for 68 years. It opened in 1936 and was organized
in 1939. The Spot was owned by Phil Olson and his family. They treated
their employees like family and there has been a great working relationship
with the Olsons and UNITE HERE Local 99.
continued
. . .
CSS Tries to
Block Vagina Monologues
Recently though there have been a number of Catholic
colleges that have made an effort to stop, or restrict the Vagina
Monologues, claiming its frank discussion of women’s anatomy and sexuality
violates Catholic teachings.
Socialist Action recently sat down with two activists from Duluth’s
College of St. Scholastica – where students who organized a showing of the
Vagina Monologues had to engage in a running battle with the school’s
Administration. The two students were
Allison Ehlert and Lauren Brant. Allison
is a member of Youth for Socialist Action and presidents of the college’s
feminist group – the Third Wavers, and Lauren is a writer for the school’s
newspaper, The Cable. continued . . .
UWS Student
Reports Back From Hong Kong
200
thousand squatters, known as Hong Kong’s “floating poor,” reside atop forty
thousand skyscrapers in filthy, cramped, shacks (many times 2 or 3 stories
high). They pay on average $1,000
HK dollars or about $100 US for these dwellings a month. There is little to no privacy or
security. The thin walls have holes
and the roofs are hardly strong enough to keep out the elements. Many of the residents are elderly and
cannot fight back when they are robbed, a common occurrence. They have no other options. continued
. . .
Activists Win
2 Student Senate Seats @ UWS!
Two out of three candidates from the Campus Alternative
Ticket (CAT) were elected to the UWS Student Senate this past week. CAT was an anti-war, anti-tuition,
progressive slate initiated by Youth for Socialist Action. The two new senators, Lucas Dietsche and
Tegan Wendland, will no doubt prove to be key leaders in the coming
activist struggles in University of Wisconsin system!
To read an interview of the
three candidates click here!
Northland Student
Reports From Cuba
Over this past winter break, I
had the extraordinary opportunity to visit Cuba. I went as part of a
twenty-member delegation through the organization Witness for Peace. Our
group was composed of a diverse mix of college students and older adults from
various backgrounds, from cosmopolitan New Yorkers to activists from Indian
Country. continued . .
.
Critique of the
Movement for Sustainability
Recently, in some areas of the country, an increasingly vocal
movement for environmental “Sustainability” has been gaining steam. This
movement includes such aspects as the growing demand for organically
produced food, the desire for increased use of solar and wind power over
fossil fuels, and a renewed general interest in personal actions that
reduce waste and natural resource use. But what are this movement’s real
long-term implications for the future? On this point Marxists may differ a
bit from many of the movement’s proponents.
continued . . .
The Northwoods Still
Says No to War!
While George Bush was celebrating
with champagne and colored streamers, thousands of concerned Americans
across the country took to the streets to show their continued opposition
to Washington’s war and occupation in Iraq. Over 10,000 marched in D.C. itself, while 5,000 marched in
San Francisco, 2000 in Portland, 1500 in New Orleans, 1000 in Seattle, 250
in Santa Cruz and 150 in Lincoln, Nebraska – to name just a few
places. Here in the Northland
hundreds braved the cold weather in Duluth, Grand Rapids and Hayward to
partake in Bring the Troops Home Now/Counter-Inaugural events. continued . .
.
Northlanders Stand Up
for Gay Marriage
Adjacent to the city of Superior’s Christmas tree
lighting ceremony on November 17, local LGBT rights activists rallied in
Superior, WI against the proposed attacks on gay marriage and civil unions
– wrapping up two nights of community events. Only yards away from Superior’s extremely bigoted mayor, Dave
Ross, lighting the city Christmas tree, protesters chanted “Hey, hey, Ho,
ho! Homophobia has got to go!” continued . . .
Cuts in
Duluth’s Housing Subsidies
According to the U.S. Census Bureau almost 40 million Americans live
below the poverty line. And as hundreds of thousands of workers get laid
off from closing plants, downsizing and outsourcing, that number is likely
to climb. But despite the massive levels of poverty that pervade this
country, the powers that be have decided that now is the time to cut
federal housing subsidies that millions of low income people depend upon to
pay their rent each month. continued . .
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A Look @ the Fight
Over Steel Tariffs
Following a campaign waged by a group called Stand Up for Steel,
which as made up of the United Steelworkers, the AFL-CIO and a number of
iron and steel industry corporations, President Bush imposed increased
tariffs on foreign steel imports. The argument of those who fought for
these tariffs was that other countries, like Brazil and China, were
subsidizing their respective steel industries, allowing them to then
"dump" cheap steel on the U.S. market at prices below that which
U.S. iron and steel corporations could match. The Stand Up for Steel
campaign argued that without increased tariffs, the iron and steel industry
would continue to hemorrhage jobs, as mines and mills either reduced their
workforce, or closed down entirely. continued . .
.
 Students & Farmers
Deliver Blow to ATC Power Line
Its already rusted, unpainted poles reach up to 140 feet up in the
air. Some are placed not more than 20 feet from the living room
windows of farmhouses. And in between them is strung a massive
345,000-volt power line which emits a loud buzzing sound, scrambles TV
reception, causes baby monitors to malfunction, and many fear, cancer
causing radiation. continued . . .
Education is a Right!
Throughout the country the
right to quality education is under attack. In state after state, the
politicians who are bought and paid for by big business are proposing and
carrying out dramatic cuts in funds allocated for public education. These
cuts are sold as the solution to “budget crises” and inadequate tax
revenues. Never mind though the record sums of money being spent on
building prisons and that continues to be poured into the military. continued . .
.
Abortion Rights Facing
Worst Attacks Since Roe v. Wade
The message behind the March
For Women’s Lives is clear. The issue of women’s reproductive health and
freedom is now facing the most hostile attacks since the 1973 Roe v. Wade
decision, which struck down state laws banning abortion. continued . .
.
Students Protest
Tuition Hikes in Wisconsin
College tuition hikes are
sweeping the nation like a feverish disease. In the face of massive budget
shortfalls, state after state is making the decision to try and balance
their budgets on the backs of working class students. continued . . .
The Working Class
& the Fight for Public Education
For working class Americans,
access to public education constitutes a fundamental right. The United
States was exceptional in its commitment to public schooling and high
enrollment much earlier than other Western countries. What had been
achieved in public schooling in the United States by the mid-19th century
wasn’t reached in Europe until after World War I, and in some countries,
until after World War II. continued . .
.
YSA Kicked Off UWS
Campus (Spring 2001)
On the
afternoon of Wednesday, April 25, 2001 while trying to hold a forum on
“Police Brutality & the Role of Police in Society” at the University of
Wisconsin-Superior, Youth for Socialist Action was thrown off campus by Police
Officer M. Bodin and Hattie Crass, the head of SUFAC (Segregated University
Fees Allocations Council). continued . . .
Promethean on YSA
Getting Kicked Off Campus
On Wednesday, April 25th, a
group called Youth for Socialist Action (YSA) was removed from the Rothwell
Student Center (RSC), and made claims that they were discriminated against.
YSA stated on their website that while trying to hold a forum on “Police Brutality
and the Role of Police in Society” they were thrown off campus by Campus
Safety Officer Mike Bodin and RSC staff member Hattie Crass. continued . . .
Harsh Reality Facing
People in the Northwoods
We are in the midst of a
severe national economic downturn. Despite efforts by politicians and
pro-capitalist economists to down play this fact, working people feel all
to painfully the attacks on their livelihoods. Even with the average family
bringing in at least two paychecks, our real wages are lower than the days
in which most families only had one. While the Ashland Chamber of Commerce
is trying hard to paint the areas as a beautiful paradise for vacation
seekers and travelers, Lake Superior Socialist Action has taken it upon
itself to present the real story of life in the Northland. continued . .
.
The Ku Klux Klan &
Racism in the Northwoods
“You nigger-lovin’, lesbian,
hook-nosed, Jewish communists!” Those are the words that greeted your ears
if you attended the Ku Klux Klan rally in Ironwood, Michigan on September
16, 1997. There, behind two chain link fences, and protected by at least
two dozen heavily armed police, eleven Klan members from Wisconsin and
Pennsylvania were allowed to spend several hours denouncing their audience
as “betrayers” of Christianity, America and the “mighty” white race. continued . .
.
Anti-Gay Bigotry in
Local High Schools
In 1996 Jamie Nabozny, a young
gay student from northern Wisconsin, made national headlines when he and
his family successfully sued the Ashland School District for failure to
protect him from constant verbal and physical harassment. Throughout his
school years Jamie had been heckled, beaten and even urinated on because of
his sexual orientation. All of this took place openly in the halls and
locker rooms of Ashland high school, and despite frequent complaints to the
administration, Jamie received little or no relief from his torment. continued . .
.
YSA Projects & Campaigns
Building a Movement 4
Social Change
Youth for Socialist Action was founded by a group of young activists
back in 1997. Since then we have
grown to become a national network of young revolutionaries with chapters
in California, North Carolina, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and
elsewhere. And now, eight years
later, we’ve held our first National Convention! YSAers from across the country converged on Augsburg College
in Minneapolis to discuss the future of YSA. Read what happened by clicking here!
National YSA Campaigns
At our recent Convention we decided to focus on two national
campaigns: 1. organizing to bring the troops home from Iraq, and 2.
organizing against the national epidemic of tuition hikes. If you would like to plug into one or
both of these campaigns click on our anti-war or anti-tuition
websites.
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