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US Elections: Demanding Participation

Michael Fox November 3, 2008 Michael Fox

Anti-War Protest in NYC

Democracy is not something that happens once every four years when you go vote for President, Senator, governor or congressman. It should be an every day act. It can be participatory, and we can no longer leave important local, regional or national decisions in the hands of our elected representatives alone. They should be held accountable, not to their campaign contributors, but to the citizens who they are supposed to represent. Unaccountable politicians and beltway lobbyists got us in to this current national crisis. Only the American people can get us out.

Indigenous People of Peru Reject Talisman Oil Company

Yves Engler November 3, 2008 Yves Engler

At a recent strike in Lima

Canadian resource companies are under fire in Peru. On October 21, Cesar Zuniga, the president of the Achuar indigenous group FENAP, told a local radio: "We, as indigenous people, reject the Canadian company Talisman. We do not want them working in our territory. We want the Peruvian state to respect us, and the armed forces to stop helping the company." The indigenous communities believe oil development causes ecological harm and leads to social conflict.

Studs Terkel: He’ll Never Be Silenced

Jeff Cohen November 3, 2008 Jeff Cohen

Studs Terkel

The irrepressible Louis "Studs" Terkel was many things - oral historian, radio and TV host, actor, activist, Bronx-born icon of Chicago, the "great listener" who was hard of hearing, Pulitzer Prize-winner. But most of all he was an inspiration. He inspired every younger activist or independent journalist who ever met him. And who among us wasn't younger than Studs. The self-described "guerilla journalist" died Friday at 96. He was almost 70 when I first met him, more than twice my age. But I couldn't keep up.

Howard Zinn: Vote for Obama But Direct Action Needed

The Real News Network October 30, 2008 The Real News Network

Howard Zinn says vote against McCain, vote for Obama. Even though Obama does not represent any fundamental change, he creates an opening for a possibility of change. Obama will not fulfill that potential for change, unless he is enveloped by a social movement, which is angry enough, powerful enough, insistent enough, that he fills his abstract phrases about change with some content. We need direct action, because only that kind of indignation is going to have some affect on the people in Washington. read more

Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: “Steal Back Your Vote!”

Truthout October 30, 2008 Truthout

Investigative journalist Greg Palast and voting rights attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have partnered up to create the "Steal Back Your Vote!" guide. In an interview with Truthout, Palast describes the ways that votes are being stolen ahead of the 2008 election and gives suggestions on how Americans can ensure that their votes get counted.

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Vermonters Stand Up to War Profiteer General Dynamics

Jonathan Leavitt October 29, 2008 Jonathan Leavitt

Whether Barack Obama or John McCain wins the election, war profiteer and military contractor General Dynamics will be well represented in the next administration. That was one of the messages from a group of peace economy activists speaking at a radical bookshop in Montpelier, Vermont on Monday; John McCain has a General Dynamics lobbyist, Rob Chamberlin, working for his campaign. And that "voice for change" Barack Obama? According to the NY Times, James S. Crown, a board member of General Dynamics, is on Obama's national finance committee. With these kinds of connections, General Dynamics' war profiteering will likely continue well into the next presidency - but not if a group of Vermont peace activists gets its way.