In Case You Missed It

Compiled by Sid Pranke

An Oct. 14 broadcast of his daily radio show, right-wing radio host Neal Boortz stated that if the country is faced with an impending national disaster, it should makesaving rich Americans a higher priority than saving poor Americans.
The comments came as Boortz recounted the New York subway terror threat, and the investigation into whether city officials alerted certain New Yorkers about the threat before the rest of the city was alerted. A portion of Boortz’s comments follow: “OK, now here’s the story. And it says, ‘The Homeland Security Department launched internal probes yesterday into whether its officials tipped off friends and relatives to a possible subway terror plot days before average New Yorkers were alerted.’ So the real gripe here is that it seems that some wealthy people got notified of the terror plot before the great unwashed, before the others ...This is as it should be.” He went on to imagine a scenario where the country is forced to “set some priorities” about who will be notified of an impending disaster. “We should save the rich people first,” Boortz declared. “You know, they’re the ones that are responsible for this prosperity.” He described the poorest Americans as “a drag on society” and said they “don’t achieve squat. They sit around all the time waiting for somebody else to take care of them. They have children they can’t afford. They’re uneducated. They can barely read.”

www.mediamatteers.org

Mpls City Council approves living wage ordinance

On Nov. 4, the Minneapolis City Council voted 11 to 2 to approve a living wage ordinance, which was pushed by labor and faith groups, as well as community organizations. Ward 13 Councilmember Barret Lane and 10th Ward Councilmember Dan Niziolek cast the two “no” votes.

The ordinance will require organizations that have city contracts in excess of $100,000 or that receive city subsidies in excess of $100,000 to pay a wage of $12.09 per hour. Unlike a previous living wage policy enacted by a 1997 City Council resolution, the new ordinance provides for enforcement mechanisms and financial penalties for organizations failing to comply. Mayor R.T. Rybak is expected to sign the ordinance.

www.minneapolisunions.org

Bush accused of operating secret gulag in eastern Europe

The Bush administration has been accused of operating secret detention facilities beyond the reach of the law and outside official oversight at bases in two eastern European countries. The facilities—said to be located in Poland and Romania—are part of a “gulag” used by the United States to hold prisoners seized in the so-called war on terror.

A leading human rights group examined the flight logs of a plane used by the CIA to transport prisoners and concluded, among other findings, that the secret facilities first opened in 2003.

www.news.independent.co.uk