Pacific Rim Mining held its annual general meeting in downtown Vancouver on August 28. It was attended by a few directors and more than a dozen protesters.
Most of the demonstrators were from the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) in the US Pacific Northwest. They wore tags describing themselves as shareholders in democracy, human rights, access to clean water and 鈥渙ur future鈥.
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Over the past decades, civil libertarians have warned that right-wing politicians were moving towards an all-embracing police state, using the media-generated panics of the 鈥淲ar on Drugs鈥 and the 鈥淲ar on Terror鈥 as their stalking horses.
The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) is one of many police organisations set up after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. Supposedly established to fight organised crime, the ACC seems to find this task too difficult, and its operations instead target drug enthusiasts and smaller criminal networks.
The Australia Western Sahara Association has urged BHP-Billiton to suspend Canadian company PotashCorp鈥檚 trade in phosphate from Western Sahara if its takeover bid is successful.
AWSA president Lyn Allison said in an August 25 statement: 鈥淚f BHP cares anything for business ethics, social responsibility and international law, it will not allow the Canadian fertiliser corporation to buy further Western Saharan phosphate from Morocco.鈥
September 18 marks the 40th anniversary of the death of US musician Jimi Hendrix, widely regarded as one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time.
Hendrix鈥檚 identification with progressive politics embodied the ferment of the late 1960s, with songs like 鈥淚f Six Was Nine鈥 (鈥淚鈥檓 gonna wave my freak flag high鈥), 鈥淚 Don鈥檛 Live Today鈥 (about the plight of Native Americans) and the visceral anti-war tone poem 鈥淢achine Gun鈥.
The deputy president of Swaziland鈥檚 People鈥檚 United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) Sikhumbuzo Phakathi was arrested on September 6 at the Phongola border post.
The arrest came as Swazi police and soldiers were deporting a delegation of South African activists from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC).
Pudemo president Mario Masuku was detained before the start of a protest march on September 7 to mark the global day for democracy in Swaziland. He was 鈥渆scorted home鈥 by police to prevent his participation.
Venezuela鈥檚 decision to re-establish diplomatic, political and economic relations with Colombia on August 10 was only possible thanks to a range of circumstances and actions.
Venezuela cut ties on July 22 in the face of allegations made by Colombia at the Organisation of American States (OAS) of alleged Venezuelan support for left-wing Colombian guerrillas. The Venezuelan government said the allegations were part of an attempt, backed by the US, to spark a war between the two nations.
Black Like Me: How a White American Travelled Through the Segregated Deep South of the 1950s Disguised as a Black Man John Howard Griffin, Souvenir Press, 2009, 241 pages, $39.99 (pb)
Review by Phil Shannon
John Howard Griffin, a white Texan, was shocked in 1959 when he saw the face in the mirror, 鈥渢he face and shoulders of a stranger 鈥 a fierce, bald, very dark Negro鈥, glaring back at him.
鈥淭wo American soldiers have been killed and nine wounded after a gunman in Iraqi army uniform attacked them at an Iraqi base, US officials said. 鈥淭he soldiers were part of a security detail for a United States company commander who was meeting members of Iraq's security forces at a commando compound near the city of Tuz Khurmato, 170 kilometres north of Baghdad, US military said. 鈥淭hey were the first American soldiers killed since US forces formally ended combat operations in Iraq a week ago 鈥 [I]nsurgents continue to launch attacks daily, many targeting Iraqi soldiers and police.鈥
More than 2.7 million workers joined protests across France on September 7. The strikes and protests marked the start of a parliamentary debate over the new pension bill that will dramatically cut workers鈥 pensions. The protests were called by coalition of six of France鈥檚 Union Confederations.
Thousands of people mobilised across Honduras on September 7 as part of the 鈥渃ivic strike鈥 called by the National Popular Resistance Front (FNRP) to 鈥渄emand that the neoliberal offensive against the poor be halted鈥.
The FNRP said rallies were held in the capital, Tegucigalpa and 10 other cities and towns.
鈥淭ony Blair's autobiography, A Journey, is being subversively moved to crime 91自拍论坛 in book shops by members of a Facebook protest group. 鈥淥ver 10,000 Facebook members have joined the group 鈥楽ubversively move Tony Blair鈥檚 memoirs to the crime section in book shops鈥 and have been posting photos of them doing so 鈥 鈥淭he Facebook group description said: 鈥楳ake book shops think twice about where they categorise our generation鈥檚 greatest war criminal.鈥欌 鈥 September 8 Webusers.co.uk.
For five centuries, Africa has suffered at the hands of the West. Starting with the slave trade, through the colonial era, to today鈥檚 neoliberal global economy, the development of industrial capitalism in the West has come at a terrible price paid by Africans.
Food riots in Mozambique early this month and looming mass starvation in Niger after floods that were preceded by years of drought both reflect the ongoing economic exploitation.
However, they also reflect another creation of the industrialised West adversely affecting Africa: climate change.
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