George Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has died. However, the demand for a socialist Palestine lives on!

The U.S. installed government in Somalia is under attack.

“Months ago, Barak and Olmert - imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, and boasted about it. Lately they have tightened the deadly noose even more, so that hardly anything at all could be brought into the Strip. Last week they made the blockade absolute - no food, no medicines. Things reached a climax when they stopped the fuel, too. Large areas of Gaza remained without electricity - incubators for premature babies, dialysis machines, pumps for water and sewage. Hundreds of thousands remained without heating in the severe cold, unable to cook, running out of food … It is impossible not to feel exhilaration when masses of oppressed and hungry people break down the wall that is shutting them in, their eyes radiant, embracing everybody they meet … The Gaza Strip is the largest prison on earth. The breaking of the Rafah wall was an act of liberation.”

“I accuse the government of Colombia of plotting a conspiracy, acting as a pawn of the North American empire, of plotting a military provocation against Venezuela”
Chavez

“The Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) is starting to make an important impact in the financial sphere,” said Venezuelan economist Jesus Farias stated Thursday referring to the creation of the South Bank.

Caribbean leaders are heading to Venezuela this weekend for talks aimed at cementing their country’s participation in the Bolivarian alternative for the Americas (ALBA).

“This may not have been quite the collapse of the Berlin Wall. But if anyone doubted the impact of a prolonged siege on an imprisoned people, they had the evidence yesterday.”

NEW YORK Reuters - Citigroup Inc is abandoning its plans to open as many as 100 U.S. branches a year, The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

The report said the bank will likely sell or close some new branches in areas like Tampa, Florida, while focusing on large metropolitan areas like Boston, Miami, New York City and San Francisco.

The report said the company began reconsidering its expansion plans when Vikram Pandit became its new chief executive last month. His predecessor, Charles Prince, stepped down amid mounting mortgage-related losses.

“We want to buy food, we want to buy rice and sugar, milk and wheat and some cheese,”

–It is the worst economic downturn since the second world war…

–Women continue to lead the charge against the blockade of the Palestinian territories.

–Not the direction that this country or the country of Peru should be going.

–Some good news for people who oppose the wasteful and environmentally unsustainable practice of using litres of water, gallons of oil, and huge amounts of waste just to produce a bottle of water that is not as clean as the stuff coming out of your tap. And, really, who supports those practices other than the largest multinational corporations?

–It should not be just the Venezuelan people who are pushing for a united grassroots movement.

–Walden Bello (yes, you know the name) has written about the current climate crises and how the people are reacting in the “newly industrialising countries”. Worth a read if you care about building effective movements against the exploitation of the planet.

–Recession is part of the cyclical movement of the capitalist system. It is also one of the reasons that we should throw it out and replace it with a different system. This article examines the limits of the liberal economic “analysis” of just describing what is going on and pretending that this leads to understanding. We, of-course, know better. Have a read.

–A new movie for the digital and technological age. “Intellectual Property” is being driven down our throats as the next area for capital markets to expand. For those that want to keep information free (as in freedom) and free (as in accessible) then you should watch this movie. This post, however, is only the trailer.

The report of the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan.

Figures released today by the Conservation Council of New Brunswick conservatively estimate that between 300 and 700 New Brunswickers die annually as a result of exposure to environmental hazards such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, pesticides and contaminants in food and water. That’s about three to seven times more than die annually from motor vehicle accidents in the province.

–Someone is thinking… and speaking out.

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Because I need to kick somebody’s ass

Worth a read if you care about anti-war politics in the US.

–From the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. What every one seems to understand except the federal government.