A group of Democrats slowed the process on health care in the U.S. House over the past month, citing a number of concerns about the proposal's effects on small businesses and rural hospitals. Among local electeds, this included U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, and Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville.

The Corporate Co-Opt of Local

HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself "the world's local bank." Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain, recently launched a new ad campaign under the tagline, "Local flavor since 1956." The International Council of Shopping Centers, a global consortium of mall owners and developers, is pouring millions of dollars into television ads urging people to "Shop Local" - at their nearest mall. Even Wal-Mart is getting in on the act, hanging bright green banners over its produce aisles that simply say "Local."

Hoping to capitalize on growing public enthusiasm for all things local, some of the world's biggest corporations are brashly laying claim to the word "local."

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, touted the virtues of a proposed universal health-insurance plan during a telephonic news conference with reporters from around the state last week.

According to Brown, in his travels around the state he hears urgent indications from taxpayers and small business owners that the federal government needs to do something soon to make health insurance more affordable.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is spending most of his time trying to win the support of international leaders in his war against terrorism. His summit with EU President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic and his visit to NATO's headquarters in Brussels last Thursday were a major effort to convince the international community that Pakistan is serious about defeating terrorism. Those leaders may have affirmed their support publicly, but many of them are still cautious.

TUCSON - Arizona is the New South and the new South Africa. It is the home of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, where racial profiling is official policy. Now, in another form of profiling, State Superintendent of Schools Tom Horne wants to eliminate ethnic studies.

At his behest and by a 4-3 Arizona Senate panel vote, an amendment to education bill S.B. 1069 was passed that emphasizes the teaching of individualism at the expense of ethnic studies. The bill would permit the Department of Education to withhold 10 percent of state monies if ethnic studies continue to exist. The full legislature is expected to pass it within several weeks, and Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is expected to sign it into law.

Horne has spent two and a half years pushing this bill, and it will effectively send Arizona school children into the dark ages. Overriding the concept of local control, Horne wants Arizona teachers to impose one view of America upon the state's children.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Her eyes fill with tears as she tells her tale, and her hands tremble as she wipes them away.

A pretty woman with almond-shaped eyes and shoulder-length hair, Alejandra Leon, 36, remembers how her boyfriend would erupt at the slightest excuse, even when he was dating her seven years ago.

Her two young children from a previous marriage would watch in fear as he bullied, threatened and taunted her. The abuse intensified after her boyfriend lost his blue-collar job last May, and his drinking binges became more frequent.

So, Leon, an undocumented immigrant, decided she would leave him.

Last Friday in the White House Rose Garden, President Barack Obama signed a landmark bill meant to change the way credit-card companies treat their customers.

The new law, which proponents tout as a credit-card consumer bill of rights, puts heavy restrictions the companies' ability to jack up interest rates, charge high fees, and market cards to young college students.  

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) is an important new piece of legislation that protects consumers against predatory credit-card company practices, said Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program director for the consumer advocacy group the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups.

"œThis is a major step forward over the hegemony the banks have had over the Congress in the past 20 years I've been [in Washington]," he said, after having just attended the Rose Garden signing ceremony on Friday. The new law, he said, "œprevents banks from cheating their customers" and stops a number of other consumer tricks and traps.