Comment & Analysis
In their own words
Reasonable
“It is reasonable to ask whether the people of Iraq will notice any change.” — US Congressman Dennis Kucinich on President Obama’s pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq but leave thousands of armed contractors and State Department employees.
What occupy Wall Street reveals
No one predicted the phenomenon that has become known as Occupy Wall Street (OWS), nor could it have been predicted.
A small group of anarchist-minded people in Canada first proposed an attempt to set up an “occupation” near the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. They were inspired by the tents and encampments set up earlier in the year in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and the spread of similar tactics to Spain and other countries.
What is the Zeitgeist Movement?
Across the developed capitalist world, the Occupy Wall Street movement has inspired similar protests by thousands of people angered at the government bailouts of the banks and big corporations while the rest of us are forced to endure attacks on our living standards through government-imposed austerity. It has also attracted some weird hangers-on.
Successes of Cuba's socialised health care
Cuba is ranked as a Third World country, but the education and health systems are equivalent to or better than those of all First World countries.
Palestine admitted to UNESCO in defiance of US bullying
Palestine achieved a significant breakthrough in its bid for recognition as a state on October 31. In a landslide vote of 107 in favour and 14 against, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) admitted Palestine as its 195th member.
On occupations
“Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws.” “You speak of — ” said Egremont, hesitantly, “the rich and the poor.” Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, or the Two Nations (1845)
