• Listen to this segment with Robert Jensen

Uprising’s guest expert Robert Jensen, an author and a professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, analyzes today’s news headlines:

ISIS flags have been documented flying over parts of the Kurdish town of Kobani, located in Syria on the border with Turkey. US war planes flew over the area late yesterday, dropping bombs to bolster Kurdish forces attempting to defend the city, but the strikes have proven futile. While Kurdish forces claim control of the center of the city, some areas on the outskirts are now claimed by the Islamic State. The battle has resulted in an exodus of hundreds, perhaps thousands of residents. Meanwhile, pro-Kurdish activists in Europe launched major protests yesterday demanding EU member states to do more to curb ISIS. There were demonstrations in a number of cities including Rome, London, Vienna, and the Hague. Click here for a Guardian newspaper and here for an Al Jazeera America article about the story.

The latest flashpoint in the fight against tar sands is taking place now in Montreal. Three women have apparently chained themselves to the walls of the Suncor refinery this morning to protest the diversion of a pipeline carrying tar sands from Alberta on Canada’s West Coast, through Montreal in the Eastern province of Quebec. The activists said in a statement, that they “want to send a clear message to the oil companies and to the …government,” that “the residents of Quebec are opposed to the transportation of the tar sands and are calling for an immediate halt to their extraction.” The action is taking place at the same time as the EU is caving in to industry pressure to not classify tar sands as a “highly polluting” energy source, even though that’s exactly what they are. Click here for a Commondreams article and here for a Guardian newspaper article about the story.

And finally, the Seattle City Council, which is proving to be one of the most progressive councils in the nation, has just voted to mark the federally recognized holiday of Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day. Progressive activists across the nation have for years unofficially reclassified the second Monday in October as a day marking the heritage of Native Americans. Apparently some Italian Americans in Seattle took umbrage with the vote saying it was an insult to their culture, as Columbus was Italian. Click here for a Guardian newspaper article about the story.