Dorothy Height and Benjamin Hooks both passed away recently; as trailblazing leaders in the movements for civil rights, they both worked to make a better world not just for African-Americans, but for everyone. Height was a feminist and an outspoken activist for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and Hooks led the NAACP through a transitional period in its long history.

President Obama came to New York to deliver a speech at Cooper Union this week, critiquing the financial crisis and making the case for the financial regulation bill heading for a Senate vote. He made the case for both free markets and for regulations on those markets, and called for Americans to come together to support financial regulation.

President Obama came to New York to deliver a speech at Cooper Union this week, critiquing the financial crisis and making the case for the financial regulation bill heading for a Senate vote. He made the case for both free markets and for regulations on those markets, and called for Americans to come together to support financial regulation.

"We are gathered here because the so-called developed countries didn't meet their obligation of establishing substantial commitments to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen,"said Bolivian president Evo Morales at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth.

This week in front of the White House, uniformed members of the United States Armed Services were arrested for handcuffing themselves to the fence in a call for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. President Obama has promised to overturn the Clinton-era rule, but so far hasn't done it. The action, along with another action this week demanding a swift vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, were coordinated by GetEQUAL, and are part of what may be a new wave of direct action targeting Obama and Democrats.

Matt Taibbi called Goldman Sachs a "giant vampire squid," and it appears that they've finally overstepped their bounds. The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against Goldman, accusing it of "Fraud in Structuring and Marketing of CDO Tied to Subprime Mortgages."

One of the best kept secrets in Washington is the working of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Does it get the job done? Not even close.

Matt Taibbi called Goldman Sachs a "giant vampire squid," and it appears that they've finally overstepped their bounds. The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against Goldman, accusing it of "Fraud in Structuring and Marketing of CDO Tied to Subprime Mortgages."

The People’s World Conference on Climate Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia kicks off this week (and we will have more from there soon), but you wouldn't know it from the media here in the U.S. Despite the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this month, the subject seems to be falling by the wayside as financial regulation takes center stage.

Gun advocates rallied this week in support of their right to bear arms, the Pope has said that his church has sinned, Goldman Sachs is giving out bonuses in the throes of SEC charges, and laptops are taking pictures of kids while they sleep! This may sound like a vision of the end times, but really it's just another week in the news these days.