–Yes, the upperclass and some of those alienated but don’t know it upper middle socio-economic classes back the right-wing candidate who has promised to give money directly to the poor as welfare but rejects the idea of building an economy of and for the people. Chavez’ movement has a solid base of support that is around 60-70% of the population because it is giving people the power to set and build their own future.

–The UK has WMDs and the international community is increasingly worried about their plans to revamp this system.

–All that wealth and no social services for the people of the province. It is time for the people of Alberta to wake-up to the reality of a province that has lost its way.

Ok, that’s not the title of the article, but it should be. It really irks me when so called political pundits talks about the Greens as if they actually know what they’re talking about. If the NDP ever merged with the Greens, the NDP would be in serious trouble.

“You went to Iraq to topple Saddam and find weapons of mass destruction, but it was clear to us that you came in order to dominate the region and its oil.”

The All India Shia Personal Law Board on Sunday approved a model nikahnama which allows women an equal right to initiate divorce proceedings and seeks to protect them from being duped by men who lie about their financial status.

Venezuela’s leftist President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised hundreds of thousands of supporters he would win a resounding victory in his December 3 reelection bid he describes as a challenge to Washington.The former soldier and self-styled revolutionary is favored in the polls to beat rival Manuel Rosales after building a solid political base through a social development campaign financed by oil revenues.

JERUSALEM, Nov. 20 — An Israeli advocacy group, using maps and figures leaked from inside the government, says that 39 percent of the land held by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians.

Chomsky takes questions on a variety of topics: whether Arab states would peacefully live side by side with Israel; C.I.A. recruitment on the MIT campus; why U.S. progressives do not follow the European left and support the Palestinian cause; how Americans can translate moral rage into constructive political action in a unidimensional society; and whether a two-state solution wouldn’t actually be a defeat for radicals.

Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Tehran in spite of U.S. criticism.

Ministry officials have previously said Moscow would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a $700 million (565 million euros) contract, according to Russian media reports.

“The Palestinian prime minister said Friday that militants were prepared to stop firing rockets at Israel if it would halt all military action in Palestinian territories. Israel rejected the offer, saying it would respond positively only to a total truce.”

Of course the truce was rejected … it might have resulted in creating dialogue.

Syria as Fallguy | Counterpunch

Politics in the Mediterranean Mid-East are always complex, however, this does not mean that they can’t be unpacked; and John Cook’s latest piece does exactly that.

23 villagers and human rights defenders were arrested by police on Nov. 20 (Monday) for defending homes of the urban poor in Kampong Berembang, Malaysia. They were released the same day. One of the villagers, Norhasliana binti Osman (24 years old) who was beaten into coma by the police and the municipal council enforcement team during the demolition regained consciousness on Nov. 21. She was put in ICU after losing consciousness on Nov. 20. Despite all the houses have been demolished, the villagers decided to continue the struggle for their right to housing and rebuild their homes on the same site. Some of them set up makeshift tents on the land where their houses used to be while others are staying in the praying room, the only structure that is left intact in the village but also under threat of demolition.

To find out more how to support the people of Kapoung Berembang, contact: suaram@suaram.net, visit: www.suaram.net

Felix Villca is an Aymara Indian and a senior advisor to the Bolivian Foreign Ministry in the government of Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president. In this article Felix discusses some very important topics/value central to any aspiring progressive.

Promoting tours to the U.S. is banned in China because the country isn’t among Beijing’s approved travel destinations, which is largely due to Washington’s restrictive entry process — a complaint hardly confined to the Chinese. A survey released this week by an American business lobbying group found that foreigners overwhelmingly viewed the U.S. as the worst when it came to obtaining a visa and entering the country.

The two countries signed 18 agreements including the free trade pact which they hope will boost trade from $4.26 billion last year to $15 billion within five years. Separately Chinese companies struck deals worth $3 billion.

One is a billionaire banana tycoon who puts cash in the hands of the downtrodden while on the campaign trail. The other presidential contender in Ecuador’s runoff election Sunday says the poor don’t need handouts; they need a new social order.

Another milestone for occupied Iraq

Enter the historians, finally - Opinion - International Herald Tribune
To bridge this gap in public perceptions, the report recommends the drafting of a white paper analyzing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dispassionately and objectively, giving voice to competing narratives on both sides.

Now that Rumsfeld has fulfilled his usefulness, he is an easy target, and as expected, he will be torn to shreds in the media. Bashing and blaming Rumsfeld will enable the public to wash its hands of any responsibility they have for the Iraq invasion.

–Robert Fisk puts the continuing situation in Lebanon into some perspective.

We are a group of women in Halifax who are angry about the Harper government’s anti-women mandate. Through this campaign, we are reaching out across Canada to women (and those who love them) to join our fight for equality (which Harper has mistakenly declared over).

We want this campaign to be ‘owned’ by ALL CANADIAN WOMEN. For this reason, The Women Are Angry campaign is anonymous.