Bill in California would help farmworkers form unions

SACRAMENTO, Calif. The temperature was nearly 100 degrees as 17-year-old Maria Vasquez Jimenez pruned grapes for nine hours at a vineyard near Stockton in California’s Central Valley.By the end of the day, the pregnant teen was dead from heat stroke, and her death set off renewed calls among union advocates for greater protections for farmworkers. But in the two years since, efforts to unionize workers have largely been unsuccessful.

Unions claim that’s because employers have illegally interfered with union elections, and their Democratic supporters pushed a bill through the California Legislature last week that will automatically declare a union victory if employer misconduct is shown. The bill is awaiting action by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Between 307,000 and 450,000 people work on California farms, depending on the season, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture. But fewer than 16,000 full-time farmworkers belong to a union, and a tally by the state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board found 40 percent of agricultural labor elections between 2000 and 2007 resulted in a vote against representation.Critics say the bill passed last week is simply an effort by its sponsor, the United Farm Workers, and other unions to boost their anemic numbers by – in the words of the California Farm Bureau Federation – “foisting union representation” on employees.

Nearly one out of every five union workers in the U.S. lives in California, although union membership among agriculture and forestry workers is low.Under a system established in 1975, the union election process begins when a majority of a farm’s employees sign authorization cards indicating their desire to put unionization to a secret-ballot vote. Workers submit those cards to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which calls for an election.

The bill passed last week, SB1474, would not change that. However, it stipulates that in cases of proven employer misconduct, the authorization cards would be considered evidence of workers’ desire to organize, and a union would be authorized.”This bill is about simple parity and basic equality and something positive for some of the hardest-working people in our state,” said its author, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

While the current system allows tainted election results to be thrown out, union advocates say there’s nothing to keep employers from interfering in subsequent elections. And, since many farmworkers don’t speak English and rely on their jobs to support extended families, they are particularly vulnerable to intimidation by anti-union employers.”Given the long history of illegal conduct by some growers, this bill has incredible significance for farm workers and will even the playing field in terms of available remedies that the (agriculture board) has at its disposal,” said Mark Schacht, deputy director of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.

The bill’s opponents, including the farm bureau and the California Chamber of Commerce, say the agricultural board thoroughly investigates all reports of employer misconduct and there’s no evidence large numbers of farmworkers are being blocked from joining unions.

“There is an option right now to pursue claims of unfair labor practice, and the unions have not availed themselves of that to a significant extent,” said Rich Matteis, administrator for the farm bureau.The Irvine-based Western Growers Association issued a statement Friday predicting the bill would result in unions bullying the agriculture board into setting aside results from valid secret-ballot elections.

The United Farm Workers said that won’t happen but acknowledged union membership was likely to grow if it became law.”We certainly hope this will lead to a system where farmworkers have the right to participate in a fair election and choose to join a union if that’s what they want,” said Merlyn Calderon, UFW’s national vice president.

First, however, Schwarzenegger would have to sign the bill – an outcome that is far from guaranteed.The Republican governor has vetoed four broader bills intended to offer alternatives to secret ballots, a system he has described as crucial to maintaining the integrity of the election process.(AP)

Dick Cheney has been out of the hospital

WASHINGTON  Former Vice President Dick Cheney (69), as is rumored, has been out of the hospital, Monday, after a month and then get a new heart pump.”We go through the effort of healing at home, he and his family express gratitude for adequate care given by medical staff at Inova Fairfax Hospital and George Washington University,” said a statement from his office.They are also grateful for the support of many people who have to write to and pray for healing for Cheney.

Cheney himself claimed to have suffered a heart attack and five times in mid-July and then he decided to install the equipment because of suffering from heart failure due to the rising pressure.He put on the supporting tools that are useful for left ventricular pump function of heart and is usually only given in patients with chronic heart disease.(AFP)

Joe Biden said on Friday "the hard lifting" is done for the year and now it is time for Democrats to campaign

Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday “the hard lifting” is done for the year and now it is time for Democrats to campaign on their achievements ahead of November 2 congressional elections.Biden spoke at a fund-raising event in Columbia, South Carolina, for Democratic Representative John Spratt’s re-election campaign.

Democrats are trying to prevent Republicans from regaining control of Congress in the November 2 elections amid a weak U.S. economy and a stubbornly high 9.5 percent nationwide unemployment rate.Legislative achievements by President Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats so far have not led to a big vote of confidence from Americans in their leadership.A CNN-Opinion Research poll released on Friday said 42 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the U.S. economy, compared to 57 percent who disapprove.

Biden, who was a U.S. senator from Delaware for 36 years from 1973 to 2009 until he became vice president, said Democrats in the next three months need to emphasize the tough decisions they have had to make.Since taking office 18 months ago, Obama has pushed through Congress an $862 billion economic stimulus plan, bailed out banks and auto companies, and overhauled the U.S. healthcare system and financial regulations.

“Here’s the problem — we’ve been working so hard to get these major new building blocks laid down,” Biden said. “They are so big, so heavy, that the American people don’t understand what’s in it for them yet.””Now that the hard lifting is done, we’re going to spend the next 90 days going out explaining to people exactly what it means to them,” Biden said.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in the November elections and 37 Senate seats. Democrats control both chambers.Analysts believe enough House seats are in play that Republicans could conceivably win the House while falling short of controlling the Senate.

Biden said it is understandable that many Americans are angry about the economy. Once voters pay attention to Republican policies, he said, Democrats will see improved prospects.”They don’t want to think about anything other than what’s made them mad,” he said.Eventually Americans will “have to look at the alternatives and not just be generically angry,” said Biden.(Reuters)

General Stanley McChrystal threatened withdrawn from duty because of insulting President Barack Obama

Washington, Force Commander United States (U.S.) in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal threatened withdrawn after he and his assistants “making fun” President Barack Obama and his senior advisers. The White House criticism of the commander of U.S. forces and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is displayed after the statement quoted a magazine article “Rolling Stone” which will be published Friday. A spokesman for the White House, Tuesday, said the general who was also architect of President Obama’s war strategy has also been called to Washington DC to explain the “big mistake in his assessment was” directly to the president.

Would President Obama would consider withdrawal of the general, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said all options are open. McChrystal himself had apologized for the article to be published in the magazine. Citing aides McChrystal, the magazine said an aide to President Obama as a “clown” and another as a “wounded animal”. General McChrystal own disparaging statement which also revealed the Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Government Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.

The Pentagon criticized the general’s statement and lost confidence in his ability to continue the leadership of U.S. and multinational forces in the Afghan War that had lasted nearly nine years. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, General McChrystal “already made keselahan big and bad assessment.” Admiral Mike Mullen who headed the joint chiefs also expressed “deep disappointment.” “General McChrystal has apologized to me or to people whose names are mentioned in the article,” he said.

In the midst of controversy over the general, President Hamid Karzai even defend him. President Karzai supports full-General McChrystal is believed to be the “commander of U.S. forces the best ever sent to Afghanistan over the last nine years.” About six months ago, President Obama will meet the demand for General McChrystal additional amount of U.S. troops to support the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Until mid-June 2010, the number of foreign soldiers who have died since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 reached 1831 people.

Argentina Argentina and Uruguay both professed neighborly affection, if not brotherly love

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Argentina and Uruguay both professed neighborly affection, if not brotherly love, after a U.N. court delivered a long-awaited ruling that rejects Argentina’s claim that an Uruguayan pulp mill pollutes their shared river.Both sides said Tuesday’s decision by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands gave them what they need to resolve their differences, with Argentina taking heart from a part of the ruling that said Uruguay did not properly inform it about the project.The countries vowed to work through a binational commission to protect the Rio Uruguay.

A key hurdle remains, however, with no indication of how Argentine President Cristina Fernandez will overcome it: Argentine activists are still blocking the main bridge across the river and are refusing to give up their fight.The verdict cannot be appealed, but the activists said they won’t accept it – raising the possibility of a violent confrontation if Argentine police have to intervene.

For more than three years, the activists have blocked traffic between Guayleguachu, Argentina, and Fray Bentos, Uruguay, where the $1.2 billion Botnia paper mill is located. At times they had the open support of Fernandez’s predecessor and husband, Nestor Kirchner, who took the fight to the U.N. court demanding the factory be torn down.The court said it found no conclusive evidence that the mill is pumping dangerous pollution into the river.

In a portion of the ruling welcomed by Argentina, the court said both South American countries “have a legal obligation” to work closely together in honoring their treaty requiring shared decision-making for river projects.While saying Uruguay should have involved the river commission to inform Argentina of plans to build two pulp mills before authorizing construction, as called for in their 1975 treaty regulating the river’s use, the court rejected Argentina’s demands for more than a reprimand of Uruguay.

“Ordering the dismantling of the mill would not, in the view of the court, constitute an appropriate remedy,” the court’s vice president, Peter Tomka, said.Uruguayan President Jose Mujica made no immediate comment, in keeping with his effort to reduce passions and resolve the dispute. But his foreign minister, Luis Almagro, called the verdict a reaffirmation of international law.

“In environmental politics, Uruguay follows the most strict international standards,” Almagro said.Fernandez took a conciliatory stance, saying, “Surely both of our countries are going to pursue from now on a strong monitoring effort, a strong control.”

“We have with Uruguay a common history, we have more than 300,000 Uruguayans living in Argentina, we have a deep feeling for Uruguay and I in particular have a very special affection for its president, Pepe, for Lucia his wife and surely this will enable us to build mechanisms of control,” the Argentine president added.The paper mill is far downstream along the Rio Uruguay, which runs for 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) from Brazil to the Rio de la Plata, and drains about 210,000 square miles (339,000 square kilometers) of farmland, an area larger than California and more than twice the size of Britain.

The farm runoff includes vast amounts of fertilizer, including nitrogen, phosphate, potassium and magnesium. It combines with heavy metals from factories – mostly on the Argentine side – and untreated sewage from most of the nearly 100 Argentine and Uruguayan municipalities near the river. Together, these effluents feed algae blooms, robbing the water of oxygen and contributing to skin diseases for people who come into contact with the water.

While the bridge blockade has damaged local economies and frustrated people who have to drive hundreds of miles (kilometers) out of their way to cross the river, the dispute has raised environmental consciousness and prompted governments in both nations to take action. Guayleguachu opened its sewage treatment plant in 2005, which sharply reduced coliform bacteria in the Rio Guayleguachu, which feeds the Rio Uruguay.

In part to compensate for any pollution from its mills, Uruguay plans similar treatment plants for its main river cities of Salto and Paysandu, while the sewage from Fray Bentos will soon be processed by the Botnia mill’s own treatment facility, said Uruguay’s lead counsel before the U.N. court, Paul Reichler.

The dispute also led to intensive monitoring of the river, both upstream and downstream from Botnia, starting two years before the plant opened. But neither country systematically tracks pollutants in the river to their sources, drawing criticism from environmental activists.”This is a conflict that involves a lot of hypocrisy,” said Juan Carlos Villalonga, campaign director for Greenpeace-Argentina. He said both countries need to strengthen land use rules in the watershed, where fast-growing eucalyptus trees promise a booming industry.(AP)

Israel approved the construction of houses illegally on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem as many as 3336 housing units during March

Ramallah  – Israel approved the construction of houses illegally on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem as many as 3336 housing units during March, according to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Monday. The giant project, including construction of 1600 housing units in the Jewish settlement of Ramat Shlomo and 600 other homes near these settlements, the report said. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem regional government has set a plan and is awaiting approval to build more houses 50,000 units in the coming months, according to the report.

Last month, the United States did not reach agreement with Israel on the Tel Aviv latest plan to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank including Jerusalem. Failure to achieve agreement came after a two-day visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S.. Discussion between Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, George Mitchell has been completed but did not resolve the dispute between the two countries, U.S. officials said.

U.S. President Barack Obama in his meeting with Netanyahu demanded that the Jewish state in order to rebuild trust resumed peace talks with the Palestinians. Obama-Netanyahu meeting comes amid tension that rarely happens between the U.S. and Israel relate to American demands to freeze all Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank. U.S. believes that Israel’s settlement building activities for the Jewish settlers disrupt the prospect of peace talks with the Palestinians.

Israel, Washington’s anger when the government announced the construction of 1600 houses in East Jerusalem, during U.S. Vice-President, Joe Biden, a visit to Tel Aviv. Later, a cabinet minister of Israel apologized for the attitude of Israel which is considered insulting VP nominee Joe Biden. “This attitude should not need to happen in one visit that the vice president of the United States. For that we should express apology for this blunder.” said Welfare Minister Isaac Herzogliter Isreal. Palestinian government said the plan to build homes near Jerusalem that can shut off any opportunity to revive peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine.( Xinhua-Oana)

Tobacco companies defended menthol cigarettes to a U.S. advisory panel on Wednesday

Tobacco companies defended menthol cigarettes to a U.S. advisory panel on Wednesday as health advocates called for a government ban on the popular flavoring.About 19 million Americans smoke menthol cigarettes. Health advocates say the minty flavor masks the harshness of tobacco, making it easier to start smoking and harder to quit.

Manufacturers told a Food and Drug Administration panel that adding menthol did not make a cigarette more harmful or addictive.”Overall the weight of scientific evidence indicates menthol does not change the inherent health risks of cigarette smoking,” said James Dillard, a senior vice president at Altria, which sells menthol versions of its Marlboro brand cigarettes.

The panel of outside experts is studying the health effects of menthol and is due to submit a report by March 2011. The FDA eventually could ban menthol, although some activists and industry analysts doubt that will happen. Stronger warnings or advertising limits are other possibilities.Any government action against menthol could be a blow to Lorillard, the nation’s third-largest cigarette company and maker of the top-selling menthol brand Newport.

A 2009 tobacco law banned cigarette flavors such as chocolate, clove and fruit that could lure children. But Congress exempted menthol, the most popular flavoring with about 27 percent of the cigarette market, and instead called for an FDA review.The issue is racially sensitive as blacks overwhelmingly favor menthol and suffer more from smoking-related illnesses and deaths than whites. A government survey showed 83 percent of adult black smokers chose menthol cigarettes.The American Academy of Pediatrics and others urged a ban on menthol flavoring, telling the FDA panel that it appealed to young people.

“Menthol has become the industry’s last holdout and last hope for disguising the taste of tobacco… we should not allow companies to sweeten the poison,” said Brandel France de Bravo of the National Research Center for Women & Families, a consumer group.

R.J. Reynolds said there was no evidence of greater health risks with menthol.”There is no scientific basis to treat menthol cigarettes differently than regular cigarettes,” said Michael Ogden, an official with Reynolds American unit R.J. Reynolds, which markets menthol-flavored Camels.Lorillard Senior Vice President Bill True said there was no data to show that youth smoking rates would drop if menthol cigarettes were no longer available.

Advisory committee members drafted a broad list of questions they wanted the industry to answer in time for the next public meeting, expected in a few months.The topics included lists of menthol content by brand, data on consumer perceptions of menthol’s effects and details on any marketing campaigns aimed at particular groups.The FDA will seek answers from the manufacturers and provide information to the committee, agency spokeswoman Kathleen Quinn said.(Reuters)

Dozens of Palestinian stone-throwers clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem on Tuesday on a "day of rage" Hamas Islamists declared in protest at Israel's consecration of an ancient synagogue in the city

Dozens of Palestinian stone-throwers clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem on Tuesday on a “day of rage” Hamas Islamists declared in protest at Israel’s consecration of an ancient synagogue in the city.The violence presented another challenge to U.S. efforts to revive Middle East peace talks after Israel angered Palestinians and touched off a dispute with Washington by announcing plans last week to build 1,600 homes for Jews near East Jerusalem.Palestinians hurled stones at police and burned tires and trash bins in several areas of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in a 1967 war.

Police responded with tear gas and fired rubber bullets, witnesses said. Some 40 Palestinians were treated at East Jerusalem hospitals for minor injuries, medical officials said.A police spokesman said some 3,000 officers were put on high alert after Hamas, an Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip and wields influence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, called for anti-Israeli protests.”We call on the Palestinian people to regard Tuesday as a day of rage against the occupation’s (Israel’s) procedures in Jerusalem against al-Aqsa mosque,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas and Palestinian officials affiliated with its rival Fatah movement have said the restoration work at the ancient Hurva synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s walled Old City endangered al-Aqsa, situated some 400 meters (yards) away.Israel has denied the allegation.An inauguration ceremony was held Monday at the synagogue, which was blown up by Jordanian forces when they overran the Jewish Quarter in the 1948 Middle East war. Israel captured the area 19 years later.

Sporadic violence has erupted in recent weeks in Jerusalem after Israel decided to include West Bank religious sites in a Jewish national heritage plan stoked Palestinian anger.Citing biblical and historical links, Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In Washington Monday, a State Department spokesman voiced concern about the tensions over the rededication of the synagogue and appealed for calm.”We’re deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions that we see,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

A crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations over the settlement housing project, opposed by Washington, deepened Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s said he would not curb construction of homes for Jews in and around Jerusalem.After Netanyahu’s defiant comments, U.S. officials said U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who had planned to leave Washington Monday for discussions with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on getting indirect negotiations under way, had put off his departure.Announcement of the housing plan during a visit last week by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden embarrassed the White House and Palestinians, who had just agreed to begin indirect talks with Israel, demanded the project be scrapped first.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in unusually blunt remarks, called Israel’s actions an insult.Clinton telephoned Netanyahu Friday to convey unspecified demands about the housing project as well as about demonstrating commitment to the U.S.-mediated peace talks, the State Department said, without elaborating.U.S. officials said they were still waiting for Israel’s formal response. Israeli media reports said Clinton had asked for the settlement plan to be scrapped and for Israel to agree to discuss core statehood issues with the Palestinians.(Reuters)

Israel's prime minister is urging calm following another stern rebuke from Washington over plans to build 1,600 apartments in contested east Jerusalem

JERUSALEM Israel’s prime minister is urging calm following another stern rebuke from Washington over plans to build 1,600 apartments in contested east Jerusalem.Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday “not to get carried away and to calm down” over the crisis with the U.S.News of the construction plan emerged during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel last week.Biden condemned the plan, which enraged the Palestinians. He later appeared to try to put aside the row in the interest of advancing peacemaking.A day later, however, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the plans “a deeply negative signal.”Netanyahu has not indicated he would reverse the plans.(AP)

facebook using paypal for the payment method

Facebook and PayPal today announced a strategic partnership. With such cooperation, PayPal will become a key service in the field of advertising and Facebook development system. As part of the relationship, advertisers from around the world will be able to use PayPal to pay through Facebook Ads Facebook’s advertising tools. For entrepreneurs in the region where the payment process can be a difficult and expensive, the availability of payment options through PayPal makes it easy for advertisers. Especially small-scale international companies that do business on Facebook.

As an illustration only, this time Facebook has reached 400 million people with 70 per cent are users who live outside the United States. PayPal will also be a payment option for Facebook Credits, which is currently tested in several games and applications for Facebook. The purpose of Credits Facebook is allowing users to quickly they can buy virtual goods on Facebook. Including items from Facebook Gift Shop.

“We want to provide fast and reliable way to make payments to people who use Facebook as well as advertisers and application developers,” said Dan Levy, Director of Payment Operations Facebook, in his statement, February 19, 2010. “With the growth of our business, offers a variety of payment methods become increasingly important for advertisers who want to buy Facebook Ads,” said Levy. “Cooperation with PayPal, the world’s major players in the field of online payment allows all of this,” he said.

Simply, Levy said, the business is in the field of PayPal payment. “We allow travelers to send and receive money online in 24 currencies in 190 countries around the world,” said Osama Bedier, Vice President of Emerging Technology Platform and PayPal. “We have become part of the Facebook developer ecosystem,” Bedier said. “Now we are delighted to expand our partnership with Facebook directly related to helping advertisers grow their businesses and application developers,” he said.