contributions

Waiting for the Bus By David Glenn Cox
Any one who has ever waited for a bus knows that gnawing feeling as the time approaches when the bus is due. Then when it fails to show up on time you begin to wonder, was it five minutes early? Did I miss the bus? That flash of fear that runs down your spine into your shoes, but you’re almost certain that it cannot be so. So you wait patiently confidant that all the facts are on your side but still the gnawing fear persists, facts be damned, did I (…)

By Prof. James PETRAS
Venezuela’s constitutional reforms supporting President Chavez’s socialist project were defeated by the narrowest of margins: 1.4% of 9 million voters. The result however was severely compromised by the fact that 45% of the electorate abstained, meaning that only 28% of the electorate voted against the progressive changes proposed by President Chavez.
While the vote was a blow to Venezuela’s attempt to extricate itself from oil dependence and capitalist control over (…)

By Matthew Benjamin
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) — Confidence in the economy continues to erode, with expectations of a recession growing and a solid majority of Americans now saying the economy is doing poorly, according to a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times survey.
The growing pessimism is being driven by higher energy costs, the weakening dollar and fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis. To stem foreclosures, most Americans want the government to require lenders to freeze interest rates on (…)

Media mixed on Iran nuclear report
Iran’s press has broadly welcomed a US intelligence report suggesting Tehran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, although some papers caution against seeing this as a victory over the US.
Israeli press comment notes the differences in US and Israeli perceptions of Iran. The Russian media saw the report as a vindication of Moscow’s policy of engagement with Iran, and the Chinese media thought it was an embarrassment for President (…)

Bush Drops Standard on Iran as Credibility Questioned
By Ken Fireman and Jeff Bliss – Bloomberg.com December 5, 2007
President George W. Bush, his credibility under fire because of intelligence that Iran halted its nuclear weapons drive in 2003, adopted a new argument yesterday to justify tougher sanctions: Just knowing how to produce a bomb is dangerous.
Bush, speaking at a White House news conference, said a new report by U.S. intelligence agencies concluding that Iran halted its (…)

Hugo Chavez addressed upwards of a half million supporters on the final day of campaigning for constitutional reform on December 1. He was confident of a victory that seemed assured. The turnout was impressive as a sea of red filled Caracas’ main Avenida Bolivar boulevard and spilled over into adjourning streets. It dwarfed the November 29 final opposition rally Rupert Murdock’s Times online/UK and Fox News estimated at "more than 100,000" ahead of saying "polls predicted an agonizingly (…)

“One’s first obligation is to the moral truth buried deep inside our own souls.” - Ex-Private First Class Joshua Key, U.S. Army (1)
From soldiers in the U.S. Army, who refused to be deployed to Iraq; to diplomats who resigned their offices rather than endorse an illegal war; to courageous whistleblowers inside the U.S. and British governments, who put themselves at risk to tell the truth about the lies that took their countries to war; this book has it all, and more. Entitled: “Dissent: (…)

The following is a video on how the Irish were treated when Shell made its way through Ireland. This is exactly how Canadians will be treated when Shell’s Coal-Bed Methane Project begins operation in Northern BC.
Blood and oil in Ireland - “We hear about a looming energy shortage and we see high fuels prices. The media talks endlessly about global warming, but when do we hear about what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of oil and gas extraction projects?
“Shell Oil, one of the most notorious (…)

An appeal by teachers at the University of Paris-VIII Vincennes - Saint-Denis - a petition to halt the "Law for the Reform of the University"
We, teachers, researchers and members of the personnel of the University, state our categorical opposition to the Law for the Reform of the University (LRU), our total support for the student protest movement and our participation in that movement.
Under the misnomer of “autonomy” (autonomy of management, but neither intellectual nor scientific (…)

This conference of delegates from peace, anti-war, anti-imperialist and liberation movements across the world declares its opposition to the “endless war” prosecuted by the US government against states, peoples and movements in all parts of our planet.
We oppose the interference of the US and its allies in sovereign states, and assert the right of all peoples to self-determination. We support all people fighting for peace and against imperialism.
In particular, we demand:
* An (…)