Ramzy Baroud is a veteran Palestinian-American journalist and former Al-Jazeera producer. He also taught Mass Communication at Australia's Curtin University of Technology, is a frequent speaker, a regular media guest, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle, a leading resource for information on Israel/Palestine and much more.

He's also written numerous articles, commentaries, short stories, and authored several books, including "The Second Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle," and his latest and topic of this introductory review, "My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story."

Baroud knows his subject well, having been born and raised in a Gaza refugee camp where he saw Israeli soldiers regularly oppress, harass, humiliate, and attack young Palestinians like himself in an attempt to crush their spirit and break their will to resist, to no avail no matter how hard they tried.

There appear to be two teams in Washington playing under the banners of elephants and donkeys. They have different platforms, use different rhetoric, call each other bad names, and (in the case of the elephants) filibuster bills and impeach and prosecute abuses and crimes by the other side. One team wants to provide us with more healthcare, maybe, sort of, and the other does not. One side is hesitant about or even resistant to demonizing or discriminating against foreigners and immigrants and gays and racial minorities, and the other is not. One side wants to protect the right to unionize, maybe, sort of, and the other does not.

But both teams favor Wall Street bailouts, corporate trade agreements, an ever larger military, corporate contributions, bi-partisan gerrymandering, an ever greater presence of military bases abroad, restrictions on ballot access, the continuation and escalation of illegal wars, and extension of the powers to spy without warrants, detain without charges, rendition, torture (yes, torture), make laws by signing-statement or executive order or secret memo, and -- of course -- the assurance of immunity for high officials' war crimes.

Ohio ACT is leading the fight against Issue 2 and our first hurdle is getting volunteers. We only have a couple weeks left to spread the word, every person and every hour helps. We need volunteers to help with events, literature drops, and phone banking, which will be taking place EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK starting this Monday the 19th all the way through the elections. Please contact Ryan if you're able to help: 614-440-3485, Email

I may be wrong, but I think Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize because the selection committee was feeling as soul sick as I do at the ebbing of humanity’s great opportunity to corral global militarism and fundamentally reprioritize.

Obama’s election last year rode on global aspirations for — at the very least — a saner world, a humanizing of the values around which nations organize themselves. He fused, or so several billion people believed, the peace, civil rights and environmental movements of the last half century with the realpolitik of presidential elections, and made impossible dreams begin to flicker in the real world.

“If you look at the history of the Peace Prize, we have on many occasions given it to try to enhance what many personalities were trying to do,” said Thorbjorn Jagland, the committee chairman, adding ominously: “It could be too late to respond three years from now.”

Over forty-five members of CMAGE/CWA Local 4502 flooded the Columbus City Council Session last Monday night, October 19th 2009. The Union represents workers from all departments of the City of Columbus, including the Columbus Police and Fire Departments and Parks and Recreation, and includes professional and technical staff and supervisors.

Brian Bellous, President of Local 4502, gave a short presentation to City Council on the collective bargaining contract currently being negotiated between the Union and the City.

According to Bellous, members of CMAGE/CWA Local 4502 have not received a wage increase since August 2007, while other workers received raises in 2008 and 2009. In 2008 the Mayor and his staff, City Council, Firefighters, and AFSCME staff all received a 3% raise. In 2009 firefighters received an additional 4% raise, and AFSCME received a 3% raise, while CWA members got nothing.