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<div dir="ltr"><div><ol><li><h2 class="ReadMsgSubject" style="line-height: 24px; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Bolivian Minister asks for increased repression against union and social movements<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt; "> </span></h2></li><li><h2 class="ReadMsgSubject" style="line-height: 24px; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Chicago Teachers Union Teachers Fed Up, Ready To Strike At 150 Schools<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt; "> </span></h2></li><li><strong style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Scott Walker Quietly Repeals Wisconsin's Equal Pay Law</strong> </li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(42, 42, 42); line-height: 17px; font-size: 10pt; ">Chicago Teachers Union Revives Talk of (what?!!) Strike</span> </li><li><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Harry Kelber: Corrupt Labor Bosses Control AFL-CIO Money and <span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt; ">Policies</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt; "> </span></pre></li><li><h2 class="ReadMsgSubject" style="line-height: 24px; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In Spain, Women Enslaved by a Boom in Brothel Tourism<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt; "> </span></h2></li><li><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/17760?akid=8544.16102.61LOqw&t=15" target="_blank" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-left; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">The Jobless Go Begging in Washington State</a> </li><li><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?ju=fe5e1277756306787015&ls=fe161d777d63077b721678&m=fefc1172766306&l=fed1157376640678&s=fe3215727764017c7d1d71&jb=ffcf14&t=" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(2, 74, 130); cursor: pointer; font-size: 20px; ">Study: California labor market's struggles far from over</a> </li><li><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/17732?akid=8542.16102.WyIe8A&t=15" target="_blank" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); cursor: pointer; ">Spanish General Strike Takes Aim at Austerity</a> <span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span></li></ol><div><br></div></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em>This information comes from many different news services in Bolivia.</em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em>Cort Greene</em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em>April,9th 2012</em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em>Within the backdrop of increased state repression against the s<font face="Georgia" style="line-height: normal; ">ix indigenous women leaders and the founder of the Permanent Assembly on Human Rights in Bolivia (APDHB) and 17 other main leaders of last years march against the illegal opening of TIPNIS , the militarization of the area and <span style="line-height: 17px; "><font face="Arial" style="line-height: normal; ">coercion and buying off </font></span>by the MAS government of President Morales of different indigenous grouping over it and the government's intention to establish a center for bilateral intelligence with the Colombian government.</font></em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font face="Georgia" style="line-height: normal; "></font><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font face="Georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; ">This past week <span style="font-family: georgia; ">Government Minister, Carlos Romero, has asked the Attorney General to intervene against the social movements and unions on the pretext that they are or will violate the rights of others with <font face="Arial" style="line-height: normal; ">excesses against the government and the government must block and prosecute those individuals and leaders responsible. for such actions.</font></span></em></font></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font face="Arial" style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: georgia; "></span></font><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><font face="Arial" style="line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 17px; font-family: georgia; "><em>Upcoming Protests and Actions:</em></span></font></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em>The Executive Committee of the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) have called for a national strike of 24 hours on Wednesday, April 11 in the nine departments of the country, which was announced by Executive Secretary, Juan Carlos Trujillo over increases in wage demands by the union that the government has not met.</em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><em> </em></div><div style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div><font face="georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; ">Doctors and the Medical association at the public health system will resume on Tuesday a strike to protest a provision that increases their working hours from 6 to 8 hours a day.</em></font></div><div><font face="georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; "></em></font> </div><div><font face="georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; ">Public transport representatives will meet on Tuesday to set a new night rate structure, which has been rejected by the neighborhood councils who have called on a struggle against the fare raises.</em></font></div><div><font face="georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><br style="line-height: 17px; "><em style="line-height: 17px; "></em></font></div><div><font face="georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; ">The Tarija have announced protests on the occasion of its anniversary this April 15th, for control of the resources generated by a gas field operated by the Spanish company Repsol and that royalties should be shared with Chuquisaca, as according to a recent government study.</em></font></div><div><font face="Georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; "></em></font> </div><div><font face="Georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; ">All this on top of the CIDOB and other social movements proposed start of the second march against a road through the TIPNIS (national park and indigenous territory) on April 25 that will be leaving from Chaparina heading to La Paz and expected to take over a month which will lead to a capitalist extraction model that is the policy and plan of the MAS government.</em></font></div><div><font face="Georgia" style="line-height: normal; "><em style="line-height: 17px; "><br></em></font></div></div></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Chicago Teachers Union Teachers Fed Up, Ready To<br>Strike At 150 Schools<br><br>Published by Huffington Post<br>April 6, 2012<br><br><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/chicago-teachers-union-te_n_1408029.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/chicago-teachers-union-te_n_1408029.html</a><br><br>As negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and<br>Chicago Public Schools continue, the union announced<br>Thursday that, according to their own informal polling,<br>support for a strike among the city's public school<br>teachers is widespread.<br><br>Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said that<br>teachers are fed up when it comes to the hostile<br>climate teachers are currently dealing with, the<br>Chicago Sun-Times reports. At least 75 percent of the<br>teachers polled at 150 schools reportedly support<br>striking should the city and union not agree on a<br>contract.<br><br>"Chicago teachers and paraprofessionals are fed up.<br>They are tired of being blamed, bullied and belittled<br>by the very district that should be supporting them,"<br>Lewis said, according to the Sun-Times. "They live in a<br>city that has done everything it can to take the joy<br>out of teaching and learning."<br><br>Teachers are reportedly angered by the CPS's proposal<br>to move toward a merit-based pay model where raises are<br>based upon a new evaluation system based heavily on<br>student growth, including their test scores, according<br>to the Sun-Times. National researches have blasted the<br>merit pay model, saying that the "new evaluation system<br>for teachers and principals centers on misconceptions<br>about student growth, with potentially negative impact<br>on the education of Chicago’s children."<br><br>Teachers are also frustrated by the longer school day,<br>which will be implemented in the coming school year,<br>recent school closures and proposed benefit cuts, ABC<br>Chicago reports. Teachers and parents at some schools<br>say the district is forcing them into the longer day<br>without a plan as to what they will do with the extra<br>time -- and in some cases, without the money to do much<br>of anything.<br><br>Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded to the union's<br>announcement by stating, according to ABC, "Don't take<br>away from your main mission. Your job, what the people<br>of the city of Chicago, the parents, the taxpayers<br>expect of you, which is to teach our children. Any time<br>away from that is time away from our children. And<br>remember, what you're here for is to teach our<br>children."<br><br>To read the rest of this article, click the link below:<br><br><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/chicago-teachers-union-te_n_1408029.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/chicago-teachers-union-te_n_1408029.html</a><br><br>____________________________________________<br><br>PortsideLabor aims to provide material of interest to<br>people on the left that will help them to interpret the<br>world and to change it.</pre><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></pre></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://dailycensored.com/2012/04/07/scott-walker-wages-war-on-women/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Dailycensored+%28Daily+Censored%29">http://dailycensored.com/2012/04/07/scott-walker-wages-war-on-women/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Dailycensored+%28Daily+Censored%29</a></div><div><br></div><div><strong style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Scott Walker Quietly Repeals Wisconsin's Equal Pay Law<br></strong><font color="#cc0000" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Hk29jDAPv1E2QF355t7dw8dVMS2O87BZ" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">Read the Article at Daily Censored</a></font></div><div><br></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Chicago Teachers Union Revives Talk of (what?!!) Strike</b> </pre><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">A visibly angry Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Teachers Union, held a<br>press conference on April 5, 2012, to announce that straw polls of<br>teachers and other union members at at least 150 real Chicago public<br>schools were running overwhelmingly in favor of a strike some time<br>after the current contracts between the unions and the Board of<br>Education end on June 30, 2012. Although Lewis refused to detail which<br>schools were voting how, she told dozens of reporters assembled at the<br>union's Merchandise Mart headquarters that the teachers' anger was<br>escalating as the Board of Education continued to take actions that<br>were both insulting and professionally unsound.<br> <a href="http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3187§ion=Article" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3187§ion=Article</a></pre><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></pre></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Harry Kelber: Corrupt Labor Bosses Control AFL-CIO Money and<br>Policies</b> <br>For more than 100 years, no officer or member of a State Federation or<br>Central Labor Council has ever held a single position on the AFL-CIO<br>Executive Council, whose membership has ranged from 33 to 51 over the<br>years. <br>Today, Richard Trumka and a small group of international union<br>presidents still effectively control the AFL-CIO, lock stock and<br>barrel. They run fraudulent elections, ban opposition candidates and<br>guarantee their own re-election for as many terms as they desire. <br>They spend our dues money as they wish, without consulting the<br>millions of union dues-payers, and they do not issue financial<br>reports. They do not have to worry that the wages of their members are<br>stagnant or worse, and that they have little to show for the tens of<br>millions of dollars they spend on political and economic campaigns. <br>They are not troubled that the AFL-CIO's membership and bargaining<br>power is less than it was 50 years ago. Win or lose, the Trumka group<br>is guaranteed their 6-figure salaries and lavish pension deals when<br>they retire. And they use whatever tactics are necessary to prevent<br>interlopers from challenging their power. <br>How does this small group of mostly white, middle-to-elderly men get<br>away with this colossal power grab? How do they manage to bamboozle 12<br>million unionists into accepting this outrageously undemocratic,<br>corporatist takeover? Where are the labor activists to challenge them?<br>The Source of Power Lies in the AFL-CIO Constitution... <br><a href="http://www.laboreducator.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">http://www.laboreducator.org/</a> </pre><pre style="line-height: 17px; white-space: normal; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></pre></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><h2 class="ReadMsgSubject" style="line-height: 24px; font-size: 19px; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In Spain, Women Enslaved by a Boom in Brothel Tourism<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10pt; "> </span></h2></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">(And the Spanish government is planning to cut back on</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">financial support to Cuban dissidents who they welcomed</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">to Spain last year. One of these dissidents committed</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">suicide a few days ago. With the radical decline in</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">productive employment, prostitution may well become an</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">even greater source of income for the Spanish regime.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">(According to Mrs. Clinton and the State Department:</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">(Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Trafficking in Persons Report 2011 </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">("The Government of Spain fully complies with the </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">During 2010, the government improved its capacity to </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">vigorously prosecute trafficking by enacting an amend-</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">ment to its criminal code to explicitly criminalize </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">trafficking as distinct from illegal immigration."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164233.htm" target="_blank" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(30, 102, 174); cursor: pointer; font-family: Verdana; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164233.htm</a><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">) </span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">======================================================</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">THE NEW YORK TIMES</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">April 6, 2012</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In Spain, Women Enslaved by a Boom in Brothel Tourism</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">By SUZANNE DALEY</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">LA JONQUERA, Spain — She had expected a job in a hotel. But when Valentina arrived here two months ago from Romania, the man who helped her get here — a man she had considered her boyfriend — made it clear that the job was on the side of the road.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">He threatened to beat her and to kill her children if she did not comply. And so she stood near a roundabout recently, her hair in a greasy ponytail, charging $40 for intercourse, $27 for oral sex.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"For me, life is finished," she said later that evening, tears running down her face. "I will never forget that I have done this."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">La Jonquera used to be a quiet border town where truckers rested and the French came looking for a deal on hand-painted pottery and leather goods. But these days, prostitution is big business here, as it is elsewhere in Spain, where it is essentially legal.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">While the rest of Spain's economy may be struggling, experts say that prostitution — almost all of it involving the ruthless trafficking of foreign women — is booming, exploding into public view in small towns and big cities. The police recently rescued a 19-year-old Romanian woman from traffickers who had tattooed on her wrist a bar code and the amount she still owed them: more than $2,500.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In the past, most customers were middle-aged men. But the boom here, experts say, is powered in large part by the desires of young men — many of them traveling in packs for the weekend — taking advantage of Europe's cheap and nearly seamless travel.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"The young used to go to discos," said Francina Vila i Valls, Barcelona's councilor for women and civil rights. "But now they go to brothels. It's just another form of entertainment to them."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">There is little reliable data on the subject. The State Department's 2010 report on trafficking said that 200,000 to 400,000 women worked in prostitution in Spain. The report said that 90 percent were trafficked.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But police officials and advocates say that whatever the number of victims, it is growing. Thousands of women are forced to work — often for even lower pay now, because of the economic downturn — everywhere from fancy clubs and private apartments to industrial complexes and lonely country roads.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Europe woke up to the problem of trafficked women in the 1990s, as young women from the former Soviet Union began to arrive in large numbers, and it has spent much of the last decade developing legal frameworks to address the issue. But, some advocates say, this decade will test Europe's commitment to enforcing its new laws.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"The structures, by and large, are in place," said Luis CdeBaca, the ambassador who leads the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. "Now it's time to take them out for a drive."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Fueling the boom in the sex industry in Spain are many factors, experts say, including porous borders in many parts of the world and lax laws. Until 2010, Spain did not even have a law that distinguished trafficking from illegal immigration. And advocates say arrests of traffickers and services for trafficked women remain few. The State Department's report on trafficking said that according to preliminary information, the Spanish government prosecuted 202 trafficking suspects and convicted 80 in 2010.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">More important, some advocates say, is the growing demand for sex services from younger tourists. Of course, there is a local market. One study cited by a 2009 United Nations report said that 39 percent of Spanish men admitted having visited a prostitute at least once. It is widely accepted here for business meetings to end in dinner and a visit to a brothel.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But more recently, experts say, Spain has also become a go-to destination for sex services.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In La Jonquera, tucked behind an all-night gas station, is the newly opened Club Paradise, which, with 101 rooms, is one of the largest brothels in Europe. It caters in large part to young men from France, where many aspects of prostitution are illegal, and perhaps more to the point, buying sex is more expensive.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">On a recent evening, one young man from Paris stood in the parking lot of Club Paradise, bragging about his sexual exploits while his friends looked on. The women, he said, did not talk about whether they were being forced to have sex.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"Maybe," he said. "But I think they are having a good time."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">If any of them actually are, they would seem to be the exceptions. Thirty years ago, virtually all the prostitutes in Spain were Spanish. Now, almost none are. Advocates and police officials say that most of the women are controlled by illegal networks — they are modern-day slaves.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The networks vary enormously, and shift constantly. Some are "mom and pop" operations out of Eastern Europe, like the one that controls Valentina. Others have far greater reach, like the Nigerian organizations that first began to surface in Spain in the last decade. Deputy Inspector Xavier Cortés Camacho, the head of the regional antitrafficking unit in Barcelona, said the Nigerian groups moved women through northern Africa to Spain, and then controlled them by threatening to rape or kill their family members back home.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But Mr. Cortés said that people of maybe a dozen nationalities were involved in the trafficking. Until recently, for instance, the police in Barcelona did not even realize that Chinese mafias ran prostitution rings in the city. Then they began noticing more and more advertisements for Chinese, Japanese and Korean women — all of them, it turned out, Chinese — working in a network of about 30 brothels.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The working conditions were brutal, Mr. Cortés said. On wiretaps, he said, "we listened to them complain that they needed to rest, they were in pain. But they had to keep working. One woman committed suicide after finding out she was H.I.V.-positive."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Some of the women are sold into the business by their families, Mr. Cortés said. The police came across one case in which Colombian traffickers were paying one family $650 a month for their daughter. She managed to escape, he said. But when she contacted her family, they told her to go back or they would send her sister as a replacement.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Of the 1,605 women identified in 2010 as victims of traffickers, the biggest number — about 30 percent — came from the Balkans.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Many tell a story much like that of Valentina, who hoped to earn enough money in Spain to build a house and live in peace with her children.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">So far, she said, she has earned a bit more than $2,000. But she has not been allowed to keep any of it. "They say I eat too much," she said. "They are angry if I buy something to drink."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In the meantime, her cellphone kept ringing, and the threats from her former boyfriend kept coming, she said.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The visibility of prostitution has become an issue here. A battle has raged over whether to allow advertisements for prostitution in newspapers, but they remain legal and appear even in the most reputable papers.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">After one Barcelona newspaper ran a series last year on sex acts conducted in plain view near a main tourist attraction, the boulevard Las Ramblas, the city council said it would ban street prostitution and expand services for the women.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In La Jonquera, Mayor Sonia Martínez Juli says the town, population 3,000, has few resources to help the women.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"We feel completely abandoned with this problem," she said.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Some politicians would like to see prostitution outlawed in Spain, though that does not seem imminent. Many women's groups say that this would only force prostitution underground, making it even harder to help trafficked women.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">For now, prostitution is legal, though not regulated, in Spain. But pimping is illegal, so most brothels like Club Paradise operate more like hotels. It charges the women who work there about $90 a night for room and board.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">José Moreno, one of the owners, said the women who worked there did so freely.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"Sometimes there is a problem with a boyfriend," Mr. Moreno said recently, as scantily clad young women began to gather at one of the bars inside his club, readying for a night's work. "But that is usually cleared up quickly."</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Some weeks after the interview, however, Mr. Moreno was convicted on charges relating to smuggling Brazilian women into Spain to work as prostitutes. He was sentenced to three years in prison and is appealing the decision. The authorities say the women can seek help, but many are reluctant. On a recent evening, Valentina, speaking a mix of Spanish and Romanian, said she was unsure where to turn. She said she had already been to the local police, but had been told she had to go to the regional police in Figueres, about 15 miles away.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">A few days later, she stopped answering her cellphone and could not be found at her usual spot along the road. Inspector Cortés said that she had indeed gone to the police in Figueres. But at the last minute, she refused to go to a shelter and left on her own.</span><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Rachel Chaundler and Stefania Rousselle contributed reporting.</span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia; line-height: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></span></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.alternet.org/rss/breakingnews/878189/the_jobless_go_begging_in_washington_state/?akid=8544.16102.61LOqw&rd=1&t=15">http://www.alternet.org/rss/breakingnews/878189/the_jobless_go_begging_in_washington_state/?akid=8544.16102.61LOqw&rd=1&t=15</a></div><div><br></div><div><div style="line-height: 18px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/17760?akid=8544.16102.61LOqw&t=15" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; ">The Jobless Go Begging in Washington State</a></div><div style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: -webkit-left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(222, 73, 0); ">By Truthdig</div></div><div style="line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: -webkit-left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(222, 73, 0); "><br></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/07/4397036/study-state-labor-markets-struggles.html">http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/07/4397036/study-state-labor-markets-struggles.html</a></div><div><br></div><div><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; line-height: 15px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://cl.exct.net/?ju=fe5e1277756306787015&ls=fe161d777d63077b721678&m=fefc1172766306&l=fed1157376640678&s=fe3215727764017c7d1d71&jb=ffcf14&t=" target="_blank" style="line-height: 22px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(2, 74, 130); cursor: pointer; font-size: 20px; ">Study: California labor market's struggles far from over</a><br><span style="line-height: 14px; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style: italic; ">By Mark Glover</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; line-height: 15px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="line-height: 20px; font-size: 16px; ">California's labor market will not return to a healthy state until sometime between 2018 and 2023, according to a new report from the University of California, Berkeley's Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics. - <a href="http://cl.exct.net/?ju=fe5e1277756306787015&ls=fe161d777d63077b721678&m=fefc1172766306&l=fed1157376640678&s=fe3215727764017c7d1d71&jb=ffcf14&t=" target="_blank" style="line-height: 15px; color: rgb(2, 74, 130); cursor: pointer; font-size: 12px; ">Read More</a></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; line-height: 15px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br></p></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/154808/spanish_general_strike_takes_aim_at_austerity_?akid=8542.16102.WyIe8A&rd=1&t=16">http://www.alternet.org/story/154808/spanish_general_strike_takes_aim_at_austerity_?akid=8542.16102.WyIe8A&rd=1&t=16</a></div><div><br></div><div><table width="415px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" style="line-height: 17px; color: rgb(42, 42, 42); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/17732?akid=8542.16102.WyIe8A&t=14" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 207); cursor: pointer; "><img src="http://images.alternet.org/images/managed/storyimages_1333397996_shutterstock90271840.jpg_640x428_95x68" alt="Protesters from Spain's M15 movement march for economic policy change." width="112" height="81" border="0" align="left" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; "></a></td><td><font color="white" style="line-height: normal; ">-</font></td><td valign="top"><p class="ecxheadline3" style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; line-height: 20px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; "><font style="line-height: normal; "><a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/17732?akid=8542.16102.WyIe8A&t=15" target="_blank" style="line-height: 20px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); cursor: pointer; ">Spanish General Strike Takes Aim at Austerity</a></font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; line-height: 15px; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); "><font style="line-height: normal; ">Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards came out in a show of force last Thursday to protest reforms that are expected to make it easier for employers to fire workers. <a href="http://act.alternet.org/go/17732?akid=8542.16102.WyIe8A&t=16" class="ecxreadmore" target="_blank" style="line-height: 11px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(202, 133, 0); cursor: pointer; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 0.1em; "><b>READ MORE</b></a></font></p><font style="line-height: normal; "><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); "><font style="line-height: normal; ">By Ter Garcia / Waging Nonviolence</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1.35em; line-height: 14px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; color: rgb(77, 77, 77); "><font style="line-height: normal; "><br></font></p></font></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><div>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@</div><br><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><font size="2">Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monitory gain to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the material for research and educational purposes. This is in accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. section 107..<br></font><a href="http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html" target="_blank"><font color="#0066cc" size="2">http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html</font></a></font></div>
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