The ruling Al Khalifa monarchy is one of the world's most brutal dictatorships. It's also a valued US ally. Bahrain is home to America's Fifth Fleet.

By Brad Olson - November 12, 2012

Though migrant workers should be entitled to the same work rights as other workers in Canada, sadly they are not. Nearly all of the lower skilled workers under the [Temporary Foreign Worker Program]...are only allowed to work for the employer that brought them over...and many provinces expressly deny workers from forming unions; abusive employers are easily able to prey on these isolated people. It is not uncommon for employers to force their employees to work 18 hour days for less than minimum wage, under the constant threat of deportation if they complain.

By Steffanie Pinch - November 14, 2012

Bill C-309 is the latest attempt by the Harper Government to strangle dissent...Put forward by Alberta Wildrose backbencher MP Blake Richards, the Bill is an amendment to the Criminal Code. Specifically, it makes it illegal to wear a mask at an "unlawful" protest, a crime now punishable with a decade-long jail sentence.

By Noam Chomsky - AlterNet

Even a single night in jail is enough to give a taste of what it means to be under the total control of some external force...And it hardly takes more than a day in Gaza to appreciate what it must be like to try to survive in the world’s largest open-air prison, where some 1.5 million people on a roughly 140-square-mile strip of land are subject to random terror and arbitrary punishment, with no purpose other than to humiliate and degrade.

Longstanding NYT articles, op-eds, and editorials are notoriously one-sided for Israel. Palestinian rights don't matter, only Jewish ones.

By Lynn Gehl Gii-Zhigaate-Mnidoo-Kwe - November 7, 2012

Over time, it has become obvious to me that the justice system in Canada is not a place where Indigenous people will achieve justice, nor the protection of the treaty rights that Indian status registration provides. Rather, Canada’s legal system is a tool of the oppressor...I know today, with its intentionally constructed layers of structural oppression, Canada is without a doubt a hostile place for Indigenous people. I hope others...learn from my process.

Two lawsuits against private military contractors (PMCs) offer encouragement. Both were brought under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed them on behalf of tortured and abused plaintiffs.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos lawlessly interdicted Freedom Flotilla vessels in international waters. They were bringing humanitarian aid to besieged Gazans. They attacked and murdered nine Turkish nationals aboard the Mavi Marmara mother ship. Dozens of others were wounded. Everyone on board was arrested, imprisoned in Israel for days, harshly treated, and summarily deported.

By DANIEL KOVALIK - Counterpunch Weekend Edition

That [former Colombian Vice-President Francisco] Santos, who openly urged AUC death squads to carry out killings, was the standard bearer for Colombia’s [Free Trade Agreement] lobbying efforts is emblematic of what the FTA is all about. In short, the FTA is indeed about death, for it will accelerate the continued displacement of Colombians...from their land in order to make way for multi-national exploitation.

Far and away, America's human rights record is the world's worst. No other nation approaches its unprincipled history. Earlier crimes against humanity were largely internal and regional.

SchNEWS - November 1

South Wales Police made a surprise midnight visit to the home of a disability activist who suffers health problems and mental health issues last Friday. Why? They claimed she had committed criminal activity on Facebook by posting comments critical of Atos assessments, the [Department of Work and Pensions] and the Jobcentre. They also queried her political affiliations and asked her whether she had been planning an anti-deportation protest the next day.

As a writer and radio host, I'm often asked why I don't discuss good news. My answer is when I find some I will. Today I did, and here it is.

Ordinary Greeks face deepening Depression conditions. At a time vital help is needed, force-fed austerity is policy. Corrupt governance mandates it. Severe repression targets resisters. Now they've got another woe. Press freedom isn't tolerated.

October 31, 2012 - CBC News

CBC News has obtained video of another violent take-down by private undercover security guards, this time at Vancouver’s Pacific Centre Mall...The shaky cellphone video shows a man who appears to have one leg, in an electric wheelchair, surrounded by three undercover security guards...One of the officers starts swearing, before knocking the man out of his wheelchair with a blow to the head.

By Amira Hass - October 30, 2012

Abu Riash of Beit Lahia was a fisherman, 22 years old, married to Fatma, father of 16-month-old Saleh...Every week...the soldiers of the Israeli Navy fire on Palestinian fishermen (still within the three-mile limit) and sometimes detain them and transfer them for a minor interrogation at the Shin Bet security service's offices in Ashdod...in an attempt to gather intelligence information.