Venezuela: “We never imagined we would see so many changes”
I first learned about the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela when I saw a movie in 2003--“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”--at a union function in New York City. The movie was a mindblower. So many popularly elected socialist, progressive and populist governments have been overthrown in Latin America with CIA backing--notably in Chile (1973) and Guatemala (1954), but also Brazil, Argentina, Honduras, Panama, even tiny Grenada. In 2002 it looked like it was going to happen again in Venezuela. . . . MORE

Veterans for Peace plan Memorial Day display
Veterans for Peace will be setting up a Memorial Day display for all the U.S. military dead in Iraq and Afghanistan, on Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26. . . . MORE

Making history in Venezuela
In the 1990s, conservatives floated the idea that there was now an end of history, that we’d reached some terminal point where history no longer matters, where planning and coordination from above trumps history. They would impose the Washington Consensus using the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to guide the future economic system of a globalized capitalist world. . . . MORE

Progressive resources on Venezuela
“Yes, it is important to end poverty, to end misery, but the most important thing is to offer power to the poor so that they can fight for themselves.” . . . MORE

Oppose Amendment 2
Most of us are aware that this November there will be an amendment to the state constitution barring gay marriage. However most of us are unaware that there are already two laws banning gay marriage in Florida already. Why the need to pass an amendment to the state constitution then? The proponents of Amendment 2 will tell you it’s needed to prevent liberal activist judges from declaring a gay marriage ban unconstitutional. . . . MORE

Against the Chain
In our society that is becoming increasingly homogenized, it is important for local businesses to thrive in order to keep our communities unique and vibrant. While major chain stores like Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, and Publix offer all of the necessities for our day-to-day needs at comparatively cheaper prices than your local mom and pop, it is the latter that will ultimately keep our local economies healthy, bring us closer to our neighbors, and serve us socially and environmentally responsible goods and services. . . . MORE

Uncounted at the Civic Media Center May 20 & 27th
UNCOUNTED is an explosive new documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 - and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. . . . MORE

Signature ad drive calls on candidates to be bold and “stand up to health insurance companies”
At a 2008 Alachua County Labor Party planning meeting members developed the idea of having an election health care campaign. What started as a pledge grew into a signature ad in support of H.R. 676—as a way to pressure the candidates to do better, and to keep the solution that most people want (single payer, national health care for all) in the public eye. . . . MORE

Democrat Tim Cunha challenges Stearns for Congress
Cliff Stearns, the entrenched conservative Republican who’s been safely ensconced in the sprawling, gerrymandered North Florida Congressional District 6, will face a new opponent this Fall. Tim Cunha ( pronounced cun-ya) will pick up from prior challenger Dave Bruderly and try to take District 6 back to the Democrats. Tim is a resident of Ocala, and while he is new to Florida, he is not new to politics. . . . MORE

Student hunger strike ends but issue won’t go away
For the last year, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) has tried to reach out to the administration and UF’s Board of Directors regarding its policy for socially responsible investing only to be repeatedly ignored. Socially responsible investing calls for the establishment of a transparency committee that will report to the board of trustees on the investments of the $1.2 billion endowment fund of UF to ensure that the university is not investing in corporations that are profiting from the War on Terror, environmental destruction, or human rights abuses. . . . MORE

Iraqi unionists send Mayday message to West Coast dockworkers
U.S. Labor Against the War is pleased to be able to share with you a statement of solidarity from the General Union of Port Workers in Iraq to the members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in support of the decision by ILWU members to shut down all the ports on the West Coast on May Day 2008 as a demonstration of their opposition to the war and occupation of Iraq. . . . MORE

John Arthur “Jack” Penrod (1913-2008)
Jack Penrod was a veteran of the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion of the 15th International Brigade of the Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he was raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and resided in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a Professor and then Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Florida. Jack died April 12th in Gainesville at age 94. . . . MORE