By RAMZY BAROUD - October 13, 2011

“Ten years ago the U.S. and NATO invaded my country under the fake banners of women’s rights, human rights, and democracy. But after a decade, Afghanistan still remains the most uncivil, most corrupt, and most war-torn country in the world. The consequences of the so-called war on terror has only been more bloodshed, crimes, barbarism, human rights and women’s rights violations, which has doubled the miseries and sorrows of our people.”

- Former Afghan MP and human rights activist Malalai Joya

The OCCUPY protesters are expressing an emotional response, an appropriate emotional response. Their detractors who would paint them as bongo playing, naked hippies don't have much political memory.

Canada’s sovereignty is being insulted at breakneck speed. The corporate oligarchy is what is inevitably responsible for forced inoculation legislation in our countries, and maybe our complacency is also to blame. These insane laws, by the way, never come as a shock to those who are aware of the efforts that have been made to combine Canada, USA, and Mexico into one country and that agenda’s underlying motivation to further consolidate power into one global government.

By Lauren Kelley - AlterNet

Thousands strong, Occupy Oakland protesters reclaimed their park last night by tearing down the fence that had been erected after Tuesday night's violent clash with them police...Meanwhile, in New York City, 10 protesters were arrested during a march in solidarity with Occupy Oakland. Protesters were also roughed up and kettled by the police.

By Lauren Kelley - AlterNet

Thousands strong, Occupy Oakland protesters reclaimed their park last night by tearing down the fence that had been erected after Tuesday night's violent clash with them police...Meanwhile, in New York City, 10 protesters were arrested during a march in solidarity with Occupy Oakland. Protesters were also roughed up and kettled by the police.

Video of a New York City pig bragging about how he'll beat peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters.

By David Heap - November 5, 2011

I write to you from cell 9, block 59, Givon Prison near Ramla in Occupied Palestine. Although I was tasered during the assault on the Tahrir, and bruised during forcible removal dockside...I am basically OK...If you have energy to devote to solidarity actions in the coming days, please concentrate on them. We must get Tahrir back and hope Freedom Waves continue.

By MARTIN LUKACS - Counterpunch

Killed in their homes and in the streets, on and off reservations, by acquaintances and by strangers, aboriginal women are the victims of an unmistakable epidemic of violence. They are five times more likely to die violently than their non-aboriginal counterparts. In northern [British Columbia], so many have disappeared on notorious highway 16 that it has been given a chilling name: the Highway of Tears.

By DAVE LINDORFF - September 30-October 2, 2011

Back in the late 1960s, the Black Panthers...took to calling the cops pigs...[I]t was an apt description. Police...routinely batter minority people who have already been handcuffed and arrested, using batons, kicks to the groin and head, choke holds, and other methods, as well as tasers, mace and pepper spray. They engage in such sadism not to control subjects in their custody, but simply because they are twisted brutes drunk on their power, and because they can get away with it. Tasers...are particularly popular torture devices, used with increasing frequency.

By JOHN GRANT - Counterpunch

Honorable people like to debate whether the United States of America is a “police state,” but when it comes to shutting down the expression of ideas on the political left, there’s little room for argument...No, we’re not a police state like our friends in Saudi Arabia...Our police agencies have figured out how to accomplish police state repression in a “softer,” more sophisticated manner.

By Elizabeth Littlejohn - September 29, 2011

There is a reason why Ontario's neo-conservative tag team of Ford, Hudak and Harper...is working so quickly to privatize core public services at the municipal level -- they realize that sustainable urban planners, architects, grassroots organizations and citizens who build progressive movements are strong, organized and thoughtful in cities, and want to quash them. This was openly admitted by Harper when he attended a barbeque in Ford's backyard this past spring.

Ben Wang is the director/producer of the upcoming documentary film, Breathin’: The Eddy Zheng Story. The film’s website explains that "after serving over 20 years behind bars for a robbery he committed at age 16, Chinese American community leader Eddy Zheng now faces deportation to China, a huge loss to the Bay Area community."

By J.A. Myerson - September 25, 2011

A group of protestors...marched on Union Square Saturday morning, and around 100 of them were arrested. Police sprayed peaceful protestors in the face with pepper spray, threw them to the ground and assaulted them with elbows, dragged a woman around by the hair, jumped over barricades to grab and rough up young people, and...laughed to themselves triumphantly.

September 27, 2011 - Vancouver Media Co-op

While the protest was light hearted at times, overall the protesters were serious in their opposition to Cheney’s presence, forming a picket line around both the front and back entrance to prevent supporters from entering. The protester’s were determined to illustrate Cheney’s position in the Iraq war and torture, and demand that international law be upheld in their city of Vancouver.

By Michael Stewart - September 19, 2011

As long as the [Vancouver Police Department] continues to look the other way while [Downtown Eastside] women are tossed out of sixth-story windows, this vibrant and autonomous community [doesn't] need a Beat Cop to tell them how the VPD criminalizes and polices the city's most vulnerable and most marginalized people.