Some of the most important threats to democracy in Africa are the International Republican Institute (IRI), USAID and other international NGO’s that are directly funded by the United States Congress. These are US foreign policy institutions that masquerade as philanthropic organizations of good-will all the while furthering American foreign policy. They are currently operating in over 40 African countries including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

[Housing Advocates]...fumed that the 10 per cent personal income tax cut was billed as a main component of the B.C. [Liberals] housing strategy. They found meagre the promise of a mere 250 new social housing units built in B.C. over the next two years...They wondered how, for people living on social assistance, a $50 boost in shelter allowance was supposed to change their living circumstances in any serious way.

Venezuelan Bolivarianism has a new home of Ecuador.

Hugo Chavez Frias gained an Ecuadoran ally last November when voters rejected Washington's choice and the country's richest man and elected Raphael Correa its President by an impressive margin. Correa is a populist economist and self-styled "humanist, leftist Christian" promising big changes for another Latin American country long ruled by and for the elite and against the interests of ordinary people Ecuador abounds in whose voices finally spoke and prevailed.

Illegal and immoral U.S. aggression is...a bipartisan affair. Democrats and liberals are responsible for their share of the death, destruction, and misery caused by U.S. empire-building along with Republicans and conservatives...(E)ven politicians with...progressive politics can be twisted by the pathology of power and privilege.

Two-thirds of Canadians believe the federal government...should treat drug abuse as a medical problem requiring more prevention and treatment programs, according to a new national poll...But a clear majority of the remaining one-third of Canadians who favour a police crackdown on drug abuse are Conservative supporters...[As well], the Canadian Police Association, representing rank-and-file police officers across Canada, and the RCMP have both criticized harm reduction policies.

The latest opinion surveys look grim for [Stephen] Harper...Canada's rejection of Harper, known as "un clone de Bush"...would be a blow to the already battered psyche of [US] Republicans because Harper copied many of their strategies, even consulting with the architects of what was supposed to be a permanent Republican majority in the United States.

You know that things are serious when a parliamentary select committee puts out a call for sanctions against another sovereign state. Doubly so when that state is supposed to be one of Britain's key allies in the Middle East. Yet today the House of Commons international development committee is calling on the Labour government to press for sanctions against Israel over its treatment of the Palestinian people.

"...[W]e’re not in the business of providing cheap food,”...“There’s a difference. Good food costs money. Cheap food doesn’t cost money. If you want a decent meal, there’s a price associated with a decent meal..."

--Non-Partisan Association [NPA] Park's Board Commissioner Marty Zlotnik on why Vancouver's poor are not entitled to eat "a decent meal" in Vancouver's public parks

(venezuelanalysis.com)-Venezuela’s National Assembly passed a so-called “enabling law” today, which will allow President Chavez to pass laws by decree in eleven different areas for a period of 18 months. Chavez had asked for the enabling law earlier this month, saying it is needed to accelerate the process of transforming Venezuela’s state and economy into “21st century socialism.”

...Israel’s greatest fear (is) ruling over a majority of Palestinians and being compared to apartheid South Africa...To avoid such a comparison...Israel (is) creating a “Jewish fortress”, separating -- at least demographically -- from Palestinians in the occupied territories by sealing off Gaza through a disengagement of its settler population and by building a 750km wall to annex large areas of the West Bank.

How Democrats again betrayed the public trust.

Americans overwhelmingly say the growing gap between rich and poor has become a serious national concern...Almost three-quarters of Americans believe inequality is a major issue, versus 24 percent who don't think so, according to a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll.

If the opposition parties wave their banners independently they will nullify each other, perhaps to the extent of the Conservatives obtaining a majority win. (Under our present system it is not that unfathomable for Stephen Harper to win a majority. He has a base of 30%, plus or minus enough to win or lose, it really depends on what the opposition parties do).

For the most part scholars and activists alike have tended to uncritically accept overt foreign interventions that profess to be promoting democracy at face value: as noble and humanitarian activities. However, contrary to this rosy view of the promotion of democracy, numerous authors have argued that what is really being promoted is “procedural” or “low-intensity democracy”...