The Pendleton Panther

The first general strike of the two main Greek Unions, which represent half of the five million workers of the country, has led to the paralysis of some of the main sectors like schools, universities, banks and transports. This last group has even failed to fulfill some of the minimum services. Ferris that travel among the islands have also stopped their services, along with both national and international flights, which led to the closing of the main airports in the country. Only the Stock Market in Athens worked with normality.
The main mobilizations of the workers happened in the cities of Salonica and Athens, where people  were protesting against the austerity plan that Papandreu agreed to  follow two weeks ago in Paris. They shouted things like “Let the rich pay the crisis” and “the people is more important than the markets”. After the demonstrations there were some incidents between the Police and 50 people armed with stones and small handcrafted explosives.

A protestant fights the Police authorities

Maine’s same sex marriage law has been abolished.  The law was repealed on Wednesday by an extremely close 6% margin.  Advocates for gay and lesbian rights, however, are far from giving up.  Betsy Smith, a campaigner for same sex marriages said to a crowd of her supporters “Having the protection of the law, as well as the respect and dignity that comes only with marriage, is a journey on which we will continue.”  The movement, nonetheless, is not without its opponents.  Frank Schubert, part of the 53% of voters that supported the repeal had this to say about the victory: “It has all come together tonight, the institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across this nation.”

However, Scott Fish, a spokesman for the repeal insists that his movement has never been anti-gay.  “The campaign was very clear about that,” he told reporters Wednesday. “This was a campaign about protecting traditional marriage.”   Perseverance seems quite present on both sides of the issue, and it’s probable that it will come up again.

Longtime Republican Senator Arlen Specter has announced that he will be switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party. In a statement posted by his office Specter said “Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.” Specter’s switch would give the Democrats the 60 seats needed for a filibuster-proof senate majority as long as Al Franken holds his lead in the disputed Minnesota Senate race. In a statement to Specter, President Obama said “You have my full support, and we’re thrilled to have you.” Others on the right did not have as kind of words for Specter. Party Chairman Michael Steele called out Specter saying “Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not. Let’s be honest, Senator Specter didn’t leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record.” Specter took office in 1980 and has been a leading Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

For years it has been the duty of both mayors and governors to issue proclamations for just about anything requested.  Once a request is sent in, it is the job of the mayor or governor to accept or decline the proclamation. Requests are generally honored as long as the topic is not controversial and the requestor is from the correct state.  Just this past year proclamations have been signed for Backpack Day, Fire Ant Awareness Day, Bean Day and Clown Week.  United States governors also issued official proclamations for hundreds of causes that cannot be found on any calendar or greeting card.  March 27 was Medical Billers Day in New York.  April 26 was Tai Chi and Qigong Day in Alaska.  September was the Clean Hands Month in Nevada.  You name it and there is a likelihood a proclamation has been passed in its honor.  “This is a time-honored tradition in American politics,” said David Canon, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Senator McCain accepted the republican nomination for president knowing that only one of the two candidates had exactly what it took to work face to face with the other party and move past the nation’s partisan divisions. People would think that McCain’s vote would be opposite of Obama’s hopes. Instead, McCain compromised and wants to come together with Obama to face the problems hurting our country. The only issue is that when it comes to the stimulus bill, McCain does object. He states it as being a “bad beginning”. He is said to be a typical republican against the stimulus. He refers to it as “genuine bipartisanship”. He believes that the stimulus package will be affected by partisanship. Without it, the stimulus bill is worth nothing. It is typical though, that the republicans will object to that part of the plan made by a democrat. Both parties working together and agreeing on things will take some time. It is not something that will happen right away.

Republicans are being ignored with the fact that they want the little things to get done before there is just one are of focus attended to, that being the economic stimulus bill. Democrats want to focus on that and get it done, but all their time is just going to this one thing that is not even being put down. It is just adding up and becoming more and more everyday. It has helped some, but not enough for the republicans to side with and work for. They want things like healthcare, money for school construction, money for law enforcement, and money to help states avoid layoffs and service cuts. Obama, a Democrat, promised to make more jobs so layoffs would not occur but he is just allocating all his time towards the stimulus bill. I think if they just stop for a little and let the money take its course and just get every other problem out of the way it will all work out great. The stimulus bill is the biggest concern for the government right now which means if the little concerns are taken care of before they get worse then the stimulus bill will be easier to control and get approved. Republicans need to be heard on this topic. They are still there for a reason which is to keep things leveled. That might not happen, however, because there are more democrats in office than republicans.