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Palestine Elections
GUEST: Nadia Hijab, Senior Fellow at the Washington, DC-based Institute for Palestine Studies, author of “Womanpower: The Arab Debate on Women at Work” and co-author of “Citizens Apart: A Portrait of Palestinians in Israel”

Palestinians went to the polls yesterday to vote for members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. About 80 percent of eligible voters were registered, and more than 700 candidates ran for 132 seats. The Associated Press called the election, “an exemplary exercise in democracy, with far fewer disruptions than expected and extraordinarily high turnout.” This morning’s results show that the Hamas won an outright majority on the Council with at least 70 seats. The US and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Time Magazine called the victory “a Middle East earthquake.” Israeli and American officials reacted with trepidation to the news.

Update on Americas World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela
GUESTS: Tammy Bang Luu, organizer with the Labor Community Strategy Center and Bus Riders Union, Michael Guerrerro, Executive Director of Grassroots Global Justice

Amidst a light drizzle, thousands of activists kicked off the World Social Forum this Tuesday in Caracas, Venezuela with a massive march against globalization and the war in Iraq. On Wednesday, participants at the forum condemned the U.S. immigration bill that has recently passed Congress and calls for the construction of a wall along the U.S. – Mexico border, among other things. Among the tens of thousands of activists converging in Caracas is anti-war mother Cindy Sheehan. At the forum, she called for a stronger global movement against the war in Iraq. She also hailed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who she is expected to meet with later on this week, for his stances against President Bush.

Neighborhood Peace Vigils

Neighborhood activists all over Southern California hold regular peace vigils to end the war in Iraq. Each week we announce just some of the 50 plus vigils that are taking place. Complete listings of all the vigils are available at www.neighborsforpeaceandjustice.org or www.peacevigils.com.

The End of Oil
GUEST: Jan Lundberg, oil industry analyst and founder of Auto-Free Times and culturechange.org.

My next guest is a speaker at an event this weekend that is centered on the issue of Petrocollapse: Fossil Fuel Decline and the Possibility of Culture Change.

Local Events featuring Jan Lundberg:

Saturday, Jan 28th, 7 PM
Valley Cities Jewish Community Center
13164 Burbank Blvd., (between Fulton & Coldwater)
Sherman Oaks

Sunday, Jan 29th, 2 PM
South Central Farm
South Central Community Farm
41st and Long Beach Ave.
0.3 miles north of the Blue Line Metro Vernon Station

Sunday, Jan 29th, 7 PM
Throop Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church
300 S Los Robles Pasadena, CA, 91004
0.5 miles East of the Goldline Metro Del Mar Station

Also featured at the events are: “The Power of Community; How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.” Cuba has successfully traversed what we all will have to deal with sooner or later, the reduction and loss of finite fossil fuel resources. www.communitysolution.org

For more information, visit www.culturechange.org or
www.petrocollapse.org.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

“We are flirting with extinction in several ways: climate change, nuclear holocaust, and infertility from plastics, pesticides and other threats. Only with careful, respectful “precision living” that corrects all past mistakes of significance, can the human race endure.” — Jan Lundberg, from his essay, “End-time for USA upon oil collapse.”