Here’s a bit of what I’ve been reading:
Latin America
The Vícam Declaration: “we will defend mother earth with our lives” [zapagringo]
The rebellion that will shake the continent will not repeat the paths and ways of others that have changed the course of history, subcomandante Marcos proclaims tonight in the closing ceremony of the Encuentro of the Indigenous Peoples of América. “When the wind that we are dies down,” he adds, “a new time will open in which we will be all of the colors.”
Chronicle of Resistance in Colombia, October 8-10 [Narco News]
We appeal to the human rights groups and popular organizations, that they remain ready and alert with respect to the critical human rights situation faced by the Colombian people, and especially to the immanent repression and risk to the communities, organizations and leaders who are participating in the national agrarian and popular mobilization of October 2007.
Bush Administration Reveals “Details” of U.S. Military Subsidies to Mexico [Chicago Indymedia]
As the Bush Administration quietly tries to pass more military aid, it’s important we understand the damage that this package will do to Mexico at our tax dollar expense, and then stop it.
Bolivian Anarchism and Indigenous Resistance: Interview with Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui [Upping the Anti]
So, also it’s the links between the anarchists and the indigenous people that gave them another nuance because communities are self-sustained entities and they basically are places where an anti-authoritarian type of organization can take roots.
Gender
Trans Politics and Anti-Capitalism: An Interview with Dan Irving [Upping The Anti]
Trans people are incorporated into the system by the very processes that render our bodies abject and force us to exist on the margins where life is reduced to a daily struggle for survival.
Transsexuals and the Death of the Earth First! [Infoshop.org]
Note from vegankid: This was the final straw that caused me to remove Infoshop from my feed reader.
I am struck that while one marginal social group is singled out for protection and space in the journal, another larger group has been largely driven out of our movement. Yes, I’m talking about rednecks.
Judge in Philidelphia Throws Out Rape Charges Because Victim Is A Prostitute [Alas, a blog]
Words fail me, but the title of Skemono’s post — “Prostitutes aren’t people, after all” — seems to sum it up. But it’s worth mentioning that after being let go by the judge, this man raped another woman (also a prostitute, raped in the same manner) four days later.
The Environment
Climate Change Is A Threat To Global Security, Says Pachauri Of IPCC [treehugger]
Pachauri emphasized the need to recognize that changes to global climates will most likely increase incidents of human conflicts as resources – such as water and arable land – become scarce, whether it is due to desertification or flooding, or other extreme weather events.
Prairie Chicken: Why environmental groups have been slow to fight the border wall [Grist]
When I called one top environmental group earlier this year, the spokesperson I reached said, “We’re just starting to look into the issue.” When I asked her repeatedly why her usually quick-off-the-mark organization hadn’t jumped faster onto this latest public-lands menace, she stonily repeated, “I can’t speak to that” over and over.
From Bad to Thirst: How the nation’s breadbasket is poisoning its own water supply [Grist]
Of the many threats to drinking water in this region, which includes 65 percent of America’s cropland, farming is by far the worst.
Race
So I’ve been thinking more and more about white liberals [Journey to Enlightenment]
While they claim to have relinquished their privilege, they really haven’t but rather they have transformed the ways in which they gain their privilege.
Complicity Has Its Cost: An Open Letter to the Mayor of Jena [Black Agenda Report]
I hear that you’re angry. Me too. But it appears our outrage is directed at decidedly different targets.
Worth Reading [Slant Truth 2.0]
It seems as if many folks thought that hanging nooses all over the place would keep the uppity Negroes in place, but oh no; you were wrong. Very wrong.
Items looking for a category
Love the Property Destruction Hypocrisy [GreenIsTheNewRed.com]
Under that legislation, kicking out the window of a police cruiser and dedicated it to the Earth Liberation Front or Animal Liberation Front is “terrorism.” Doing it because you’re a raging drunk is apparently, well, just being a good ol’ boy politician.
Prison Abolition in Canada [Upping the Anti]
What’s happening with prison reform and advocacy is linked to what’s happening in the broader social context – not just the context of law reform, but the context of human rights and the rule of law.
Lawsuit: ICE drugging detainees set for deportation [CNN]
Former detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement accuse the agency in a lawsuit of forcibly injecting them with psychotropic drugs while trying to shuttle them out of the country during their deportation.
What is so wrong with the circus? [Deep Roots]
Note: yes, this is shameless blog promotion
Most of us were taught as children that circuses involve animals (usually large and “wild”) performing stupid tricks at the behest of a ringleader who does nothing more than gently wave a hand to indicate to the animal its next move. What we aren’t taught is what it takes to get a wild animal to behave so unnaturally.
