There seems to be a great divergence of opinion among liberals and leftists about what is really happening in Iran. There are those who think Iran is in somewhat of a vacuum and is only trying to have a democratic election against theocracy and a repressive attitude to women's rights. Other leftists think because the Bush administration in the past had contemplated military action and also covert actions by the CIA against Iran that these facts, among others, argue for an attempted coup taking place, especially given the enormous number of successful and unsuccessful CIA coups which have occurred in the past 60 years. I have an excellent book entitled Killing Hope-US military and CIA interventions since World War 2 by William Blum. I would say that the only countries or continents not to have at least CIA spies in them would be places like Greenland or Antarctica that have little interest for multinational corporations because they are covered with huge ice sheets. Of course, this could change with global warming. You might be served a burger and fries by an Eskimo at the grand opening of McDonalds in Greenland.

On June 28th, the Honduran military ousted the democratically elected government of Honduras, detaining and then exiling President Manuel Zelaya and shooting Cesar Ham, presidential candidate and head of Honduras' only registered leftist political party.

A Committee of Outside Agitators, write: "On September 24-25th, leaders from the 20 richest and most powerful economies of the world will assemble in Pittsburgh, PA to discuss how they can further entrench their power in the face of the most devastating global depression seen in the last 70 years. We will meet them there."

In the early hours of Monday, June 22, 2009, settlers from the Bat 'Ain settlement set fire and cut down more than 125 grapevines and fruit trees. Israeli soldiers said they saw a fire in the Palestinian agricultural fields some time during the night and went to put it out, though they did nothing to collect the evidence; kerosene canisters and matches were still there the next morning when activists from the Palestine Solidarity Project accompanied the farmer's family to survey the damage.

Last Saturday, dozens of elephant supporters turned out at the Oregon Zoo to educate the public about the plight of elephants in zoos. This was part of an international day of action, in which people all over the world rejected the premise that forcing elephants to entertain humans in tiny enclosures is worth the cost to the animals.

If you want to see the real face of elephant "handling," here is a shocking undercover video of an elephant being abused so that she can entertain the public:  http://ida.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=4621.0&printer_friendly=1. If you think exhibiting elephants is remotely acceptable, I urge you to watch this video.

For much more information about elephants in zoos, please see  http://www.helpelephants.com/about_us.html.

On June 21st, the Israeli State Prosecutor ordered police to start an investigation of Indymedia Israel. At the heart of the investigation is an article posted to the site with a picture of a soldier who, according to witnesses, murdered protest organizer Abu Rahma on April 17th. The posting with the heading "murderer" asks for the name and any other relevant information of that soldier so that he can face murder charges.

On the June 15 edition of CNBC's Street Signs, business analyst, Jim Cramer decided to lend his considerable analytical talents to international politics. He described the street protests in Iran following the disputed re-election of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as, “much ado about nothing.” His proof? The price of oil declined by $1.40 on Monday. What Cramer found most odd was that Iranians might be even slightly upset that their votes had not been counted. After all, in countries like “North Korea and Syria, there are a bunch of people who don’t vote for the right guy,” and they do not complain when the outcome goes against them. “Obviously,” he said incredulously, “you were able to vote against this guy. But the idea that you thought there was going to be a fair count, I mean…” He then shared a chuckle with his co-host at the expense of the protesters.

just returned from Venezulea with a global exchange delegation centered on community organizing. I am working on a larger documentary based on the Bolivarian revolution and will return to Venezulea later this year. In the meantime I completed a version that features the David Rovics song "Song for Hugo Chavez".

On, Saturday, June 6, hundreds came to the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, to protest 42 years of an ongoing occupation of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza since the Six Days War in 1967. Organized by the Communist Party of Israel (Hadash), protesters held signs calling to end the clocked and bombardment of Gaza and for a just peace.

On May 26, the UN Human Rights Council issued a report titled "Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development - Report of the Special Rapporteur (Philip Alston) on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions." Alston was damning in his criticism regarding "three areas in which significant improvement is necessary if the US Government is to match its actions to its stated commitment to human rights and the rule of law:"

* The following article was originally published on Jan. 30 2009 in El Mundo, a Caracas daily. Written by a member of the editorial collective of El Libertario www.nodo50.org/ellibertario , it calls attention to what we fear is a bloody attack against these original inhabitants of the western part of the country.

On Saturday December 6th, two Greek policemen in Athens had a verbal argument with several youth. During the argument, one of the cops pulled his gun and shot a 16-year-old twice, killing him. In response, thousands of people gathered in the centers of most of Greek cities. The evening in Athens evolved with the takeover of several buildings at the Polytechnic University, and rioting throughout the whole center of Athens. Protesters attacked and set on fire, police departments and banks, until the early hours of the next morning. Protests and riots took place again on Sunday and large protests are planned Monday.

A police car patroling in Exarchia, central Athens, passing through Mesologgiou cobbled street (considered an alternative place with music, bars etc and lots of youth in the streets, so we can easily assume the police car was sent there to provoke and harass the youth), was confronted by a few young people, shouting to the policemen to get lost. There are a few reports that an empty bottle or a brick was thrown to the police car. The cops went out of the car provoking the youth and one of the pigs shot against one 15-16 year old boy, right on the heart, murdering him in cold blood. The name of the boy that stood up to the cops is Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Anarchists and residents gathered, but riot police forces circled the area. There are hundreds of policemen in the streets around central Athens.
Anarchists gather in squats, universities, and central squares at Greece's largets cities to protest and fight back the police...

Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, the head of the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores para la Educación - SNTE (National Education Workers Union), will be speaking this Thursday (5/17) at 7 pm at the Institute of the Americas which is located on the UCSD campus in La Jolla. She is a union leader in the traditional Mexican mold - corrupt and open to collusion with right-wing political parties. She created a new section in Oaxaca to try to reduce the power of Section 22, the most radical, organized and powerful local in Mexico. She collaborated with the PAN (Partido de Accion Nacional) to assure the victory of current ultra right-wing president Felipe Calderon. Basically, she is a perfect ally for the Institute of the Americas, the same organization that gave the Peace and Democracy Award to the criminal ex-president of Mexico Vicente Fox.

Cambridge, MA – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) took an unprecedented step yesterday, announcing that it will pursue a divestment strategy in rejection of "abhorrent acts" in Darfur. The decision follows a campaign lead by MIT students asking for the Institute to pursue targeted divestment from those companies, such as China's largest oil company PetroChina, that fund the Sudanese government. In a press statement dated Monday, May 14th, the Institute stated, "MIT is reviewing the securities portfolios over which it may exercise direct investment discretion and will divest as appropriate for those portfolios to exclude securities that would violate MIT's investment principles." The statement refers to the U.S. and UN declarations of acts amounting to genocide in Sudan, but does not clearly state the criteria for divestment. MIT did not fully divest from South Africa during the anti-apartheid movement in the 80's and early 90s.

Philippines: As Election Day Nears, Violence Escalates || Philippines: Election death toll climbs past 100 || Filipinos In The United States || Town Hall Meeting on Philippine Overseas Election Held in Los Angeles || Sen. Recto rejected the idea of fielding battalions to deployment in the area. || (Filipino) Youth party list group to end campaign in cyberspace || Philippine Election Updates:GMA Cheating Machine Revs Up || This May 14 is Judgment Day for Arroyo-Bush State Terrorism ||

We need to have our facts lined up when talking to people about why we think it would be an atrocity to invade Iran. Most people educated by the mainstream news are seriously misinformed about Iran. Here are some little known facts about Iran with links to primary sources.

• Ayatollah Khameini, Khomeini's successor, supports Arab League plan for Palestinian independence. This is a plan that Israel rejects, but it does recognize Israel as a significant entity. [1]

On Wednesday, May 9, raids took place against approximately 40 apartments, offices and social spaces associated with leftist or radical projects in Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen and other locations. Approximately 900 police were involved in this wave of raids. This repression arrives in the run-up to the summit of the G8 nations, set to take place in Heiligendamm from June 6-8.

The German federal police seemed especially concerned about shutting down the so36.net server, which hosts many alternative and activist mailing lists and internet sites. The raids, targeting a hodge-podge of those who have voiced opposition to the G8, are seen as an attempt to discourage active opposition to the summit. Some of the searches were justified by section 129a of the German criminal code, which involves "forming a terrorist association." This has given the authorities wide-ranging powers of data gathering and intimidation against their targets, although conviction under this section is rare.

UPDATE: Bicyclists targeted by German Police (Infoshop.org)
Background: Portland Indymedia articles from May 9 and May 11.
Infoshop.org post on wave of repression here.

Fierce clashes in Mogadishu are being described as some of the heaviest fighting in the city's history. Hundreds of people have been killed over the past two weeks and over a thousand died during fighting in the weeks before. The United Nations says more people - over 350,000 - have been displaced in Somalia in the past three months than anywhere else in the world.

2006 was marked by increased opposition to US imperialism, as well as increased divisions and violence. Racist cartoons in Europe sparked protest across the Middle East. The US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq lead to increased levels of violence in both countries. Violence increased in the West Bank and Gaza and Israel killed over a thousand people in bombing raids on neighboring Lebanon. In the Americas, left-leaning leaders won many elections. In Mexico charges that the PAN stole the national elections lead to mass protests. A teachers strike in Oaxaca was attacked by police and protesters took over the city in response. Among those killed in the crackdown was an Indymedia videographer. Elsewhere, an uprising in Nepal almost overthrew the king, genocide in Darfur continued and there was increased violence in Sri Lanka and the Phillipines.