The long-term decline in mine-industry employment occurs in the post-1970s historical context of globalization, in this way differing from the earlier generation of post-war hinterland crisis that devastated agricultural towns. The crisis is engulfing other resource-dependent towns, notably in forestry and fishing, as well as rail towns.

It is our view that the dilemmas facing cities in Canada, and around the world, are of staggering importance; that local politics and struggles are crucial to political organization today; and that confronting neoliberalism is also a confrontation with the political forces shaping today’s city of glittering towers, endless sprawl, shameful poverty, public wreckage.

The fourth World Social Forum and the first to occur outside of Brazil wound up recently in Mumbai, India. Over 80,000 people from 132 countries and representing 2,660 organizations participated in what has become an annual gathering of social movements and civil society organizations from around the world united against neoliberal globalization.

Before the invasion of Iraq a group of students and community members occupied Lockheed’s office in an action of non-violent civil disobedience–one of the most important and underreported actions of the anti-war movement.

Each 24 hours the news cycle groans these days with an overload of content. The stories laid out daily alternate between themes of menace and hope, import and emptiness, meaning and futility.

It makes you wonder what’s wrong with those who have the money – the power to write a different ending to this story. It could be their heads aren’t screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that their shoes are too tight. However – to continue to paraphrase Dr. Seuss – maybe the most likely reason may be that their hearts are two sizes too small.

Bolivia’s president just resigned following several days of popular and labour uprising and government repression. Once again in Latin America, the issue is one of access to resources (where isn’t it?) – the government wanted to export natural gas resources – Bolivia has Latin America’s largest natural gas reserves - to the United States and Mexico.