Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2007 – Officials in Iraq's Kirkuk province are stepping up to invest more Iraqi money for funding reconstruction projects designed to provide a better future for residents, a U.S. State Department official said today. “We work very closely with the local government on their budget execution, and this is the spending of Iraqi dinars, not U.S. dollars, supporting projects all over the province,” Howard Keegan, the leader for the provincial reconstruction team in Kirkuk province, told Internet reporters and “bloggers” during a conference call from Iraq. In addition, the governor of Kirkuk province “is reviewing every project...

Is Wal-Mart a problem? The Food and Commercial Workers Union hired Paul Blank, who was political director for Howard Dean's presidential campaign, to lead a campaign to convince people not to shop at Wal-Mart until Wal-Mart pays workers more. "The average associate at Wal-Mart makes $8.23 an hour," Blank told me. "That's not a job that can support a family." Wal-Mart said its average pay is higher than that, but Wal-Mart workers do make a lot less money than Wal-Mart's owners. "They have taken the values, the morals, the ethics, fairness that are the fabric of our society and put...

Friday, October 29, 2004 Immigration goal is to nab alien fugitives But communities fear indiscriminate 'sweeps' By PAUL SHUKOVSKY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Dirt-poor Mexican teen Rodrigo Perez Sanchez illegally crossed the border into the United States in 1971 in search of a good job and found his way to the Northwest. Since then, he's worked hard, acquired a house and a few thousand dollars in savings. He's also acquired a long criminal rap sheet, including convictions for first-degree rape, felony assault and two instances of DUI. That criminal history -- and three previous deportations -- made Perez Sanchez a target...