–There is nothing good about the way that the US government is reacting to the people’s needs after Hurricane Katrina. The government has provided little assistance up to now and soon it will cut even that.

–Seymour Hersh talks about where he thinks the Iraq war is heading. An interesting article from someone in the US who actually does great journalism.

–It is the job of all in the organized labour movement to unite with the women’s movement (and the women’s to unite with organized labour) and fight for the protection of all rights. Only united will the system be changed.

–McQuaig responds to some ahistorical Globe and Mail articles. The articles try to put forward the ahistorical belief that the decendents of colonialism do not benefit from the oppression of the First Nations people in the past and that the state of the oppression of First Nations communities today has some other source. The right always come out with these excuses for continued oppression and conservative belief that nothing needs to change now to combat problems from the past. The belief is, quite simply, not true.

–Duncan Cameron writes about where the parties in Canada are right now and how things are going to (not) change after the election. There needs to be some mobilization on the left if we are going to stop the Liberals and Conservatives monopolize the debate.

–Douglas Ireland has an article on some disturbing developments in Poland. The fascist youth are being given free reign and Poland’s gay communities are feeling the effects of the repressive government. The international community must respond to this.

–Some questions and answers from Chomsky and Herman on the Iraq war. Always interesting.

–This is totally unacceptable. We must condemn this ignorant and bigoted action in the strongest way.

–It might be true but who is going to prosecute and who is going to do the arresting? These kinds of moves, while in part are good PR stunts, cannot amount to very much with regards to actual change.

–Harper is going swiftly to the right once again. I really do not think that the people of Canada are going to respond to this guy very well.

This is bound to be a worthwhile read. This was just yesterday added to the MIA (marx.org). It is a piece written in 1920 by the famous Hungarian Marxist, György Lukács. Apparently it was published in the first issue of Kommunismus, the “ultra-left” review that Lukács edited while living in Vienna.

–Similarities exist between France and Canada in the treatment of minorities and immigrants. The fact that we will not acknowledge that there are problems in the ways that the state and the established communities interacts with immigrant communities is not going to help.

–An interesting speech by a prominent Marxist working down in Venezuela. It is a look at what to expect in the coming year down there.

CUPE has sent out a message pointing out how union members can help out in the current election campaigns.

–An examination of the liberal media and how it responded to the Abu Ghraib story. There is little doubt that the media does the bidding of the state. What is funny is the idea that the media is critical at all of the wrong-doings of the state in a time of imperialism.

–Racist or just plain ignorance? I think I might state that there is just no excuse for Harris and that his legacy is still a problem in Ontario. We need to address the ills of his leadership and that of the conservative leaders of this country.

–Prison, if needed at all, is for reform. Is there anyone who has reformed their life more in jail than Tookie Williams? Death now awaits him in the brutal backwardness of the US “Justice” system.

–Comment on racial oppression in Canada. I would suggest that singling out of black women is fine so long as the struggle is then brought back into the class struggle. The oppression of all groups is united under the struggle against the current system.

–Eugene Plawiuk on the right-wing “Christian Labour Association of Canada”. This is such an anti-worker organization that one wonders how they maintatin themselves.

–There needs to be an alternative for workers in the mill and related industries. There is no reason that the paper products cannot be made in Canada.

–I am really not sure that these actions by the CAW can be called “actions” at all.

–A bit late for this article but it should be highlighted that women are not benefiting from the treaties that are written and signed by patriarchs. It is not a surprise but it should be pointed out.

–Noe gay priests, just child abusers…

–This is a stupid list of pros and cons of nuclear power. It is posted because nuclear power is coming to the centre of the debate on energy consumption and global climate change. I really do not think that it should be the first thing that we look to for replacement of oil and coal fired plants.

–Militant nationalism in the US. Bush continues his ultra-right agenda. It is protectionist policy and it is not something that the world can put up with. The protection of jobs at home can only be won through international solidarity.

–We, on the left, need to keep an eye on this one.

–Olivia Chow is running again. Good luck to her on the campaign.

–Kyoto is not perfect by a long shot but the idea that the US will not even give into this level of organization internationally speaks volumes about who their masters are…

–This shows that either the people of PEI are totally put off by politics on the island that they believe there is no hope for correct representation or the electoral reform confused everyone.

“Legislation that will impoverish the most vulnerable sections of society—single parents and the disabled—is due to be pushed through the Australian parliament this week. Faced with ongoing opposition to its measures, the Howard government gave a Senate committee just a few days last week to make final cosmetic adjustments.”

“This fall, a series of rallies against government repression, initiated by the Partisan Defense Committee, drew hundreds of union members, activists, students and socialists. Held in New York on September 15, in Chicago and Berkeley on October 1, and in Los Angeles on October 8, these united-front events helped broaden support, particularly in the labor movement, for the causes of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Lynne Stewart and Assata Shakur—fighters against oppression victimized by the racist capitalist “justice” system.”

“We print below the opening remarks by Rachel Wolkenstein of the Partisan Defense Committee at the September 15 New York City rally against government repression, which she chaired.”

“The abandonment of masses of overwhelmingly black and poor people by America’s capitalist rulers in the face of Hurricane Katrina is a crime that must be seared into the memory of working people. Months after the catastrophe, New Orleans remains a rotting shell. Bodies are still being found almost daily. Nearly half the devastated city is without power, without medical care and with most of its population unable to return to their homes.”

“An Irish Ferries stand-off is in its fourth day, with union claims that 30 crew members are barricaded in ships at Pembroke Dock and Holyhead.”

“The two unions in Hacienda Luisita are on the verge of signing their respective agreements with management which may finally end the most controversial strike in the nation’s history.”