Page 841 – Toward Freedom

Taking Notes in Oaxaca, Mexico

Kelly Komenda & Sara Yassky October 3, 2006 Kelly Komenda & Sara Yassky

"What we manage to do each time we win a victory is not so much to secure chance once and for all, but rather to create new terrains for struggle." -Angela Davis, from Abolition Democracy

Oaxaca is wide awake. While many of us seem to be in a deeply unconscious state, oblivious to the world’s realities of violence, exploitation and oppression, the people of Oaxaca are rising up. Tired of their historical suffering under policies of domination, the people have organized a liberation movement that is opening eyes around the world. The movement in Oaxaca is a current, inspiring demonstration of popular power, and although every people’s struggle must create its own path, Oaxaqueños are offering us valuable lessons about organization, solidarity, and resistance. read more

From a Jail to a Community Radio Station: Revolution in Venezuela Made Tangible

April Howard & Benjamin Dangl September 27, 2006 April Howard & Benjamin Dangl

The neighborhood of El 23 de Enero is like many improvised neighborhoods in Caracas clinging to the hillsides of the city; multi-colored apartments made of brick and cement were stacked on top of each other forming labyrinth-like alleyways and streets. One of many barrios in Caracas, the community was self-assembled by immigrants from the countryside, most of whom began by squatting land on the hills outside the center of the city, and assembling houses next to and on top of each other.

Oily footprints on the path to 9/11

Greg Guma September 27, 2006 Greg Guma

As troops and planes headed toward Afghanistan in October 2001, few people questioned the reasons for military engagement.

IRAQ: Law to allow Big Oil takeover

Doug Lorimer, Green Left Weekly September 26, 2006 Doug Lorimer, Green Left Weekly

Green Left Weekly

"We need to change the way we run the oil sector in Iraq. We need to engage with the major oil companies who will bring in investment as well as technology", Barham Saleh, deputy PM in Washington’s puppet Iraqi government, told journalists on the sidelines of a September 10 US-led International Compact for Iraq conference in the United Arab Emirates.

Associated Press reported "Saleh said Iraqi leaders were nearing agreement on a long-awaited hydrocarbon law that would allow potentially huge investments by foreign companies in Iraq’s oil sector", which was nationalised in 1972 and is currently administered by the oil ministry and two state-owned oil companies. read more

The Hmong: An Uncertain Future in Thailand

Will Baxter September 21, 2006 Will Baxter

Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) was recently assigned the task of repatriating 4,500 ethnic Hmong living in Phetchabun province-and they were told by caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to find a solution to the problem as soon as possible. Unfortunately, in this case, a 'quick fix' just isn't feasible.

The War on Truth

Amy Goodman and David Goodman September 20, 2006 Amy Goodman and David Goodman

President George W. Bush has long preferred illusion to reality. "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda," Bush explained of his approach at a public forum in 2005. For Bush, there are no real problems, only political problems. The only crises are when poll numbers fall.