Februarry 16, 2010 -- NPR -- Tell Me More continues its Black History Month series of conversations with a discussion about the role of the Communist Party. It was prominent in the fight for racial equality in the south, specifically Alabama, where segregation was most oppressive. Many courageous activists were communists. Host Michel Martin speaks with historian Robin G. Kelley about his book Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression about how the communist party tried to secure racial, economic, and political reforms. The transcript is available from NPR.

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Listen to John Riddell present a workshop on Clara Zetkin at the US International Socialist Organization's Socialism 2009 conference in Chicago:

January 19, 2010 -- Radio Basics via LeftClick -- In this show, Canada's Radio Basics discusses the social and historical context in which a natural disaster has become a social disaster of epic proportions. Guests are Kevin Pina of the Haiti Information Project, an investigative journalist who has worked on Haiti since 1991, and B.C. Holmes from Toronto Haiti Action, who just returned from Haiti days before the quake and tells us about the gross human rights abuses faced by Haitians at the hands of the occupiers since 2004.

Honduras: Which Way?

January 10, 2010 -- In October, 2009, a delegation of human rights observers from Chicago visited Honduras to witness the popular resistance to the coup d'etat. We interviewed many leaders of the movement, and recorded abuses against them perpetrated by the coup regime and its military apparatus. This video is a short example of the spirit of the resistance by the Honduran people, which continues despite the fraudulent election that took place on November 29, 2009. Despite being boycotted by 63% of voters, the coup regime remains in power. Video produced by We = Producciones En El Ojo (In the Eye Productions).

December 30, 2009 -- Green Left Weekly writer and Australian Socialist Alliance climate change activist Simon  Butler talks about the the Copenhagen climate talks with Radio Adelaide’s Backstory.

November 10, 2009 -- LeftClick/Latin Radical -- Ricardo Salgado, an Honduran analyst of the ``crisis'' in Honduras, explains to Australian community radio's Warwick Fry the latest developments in Honduras and the postion of the resistance movement. In spite of pressure on the coup regime to recognise the legitimacy of Zelaya as president ten days ago, Zelaya is still trapped inside the Brazilian embassy. The ``agreement'' (designed more to save face for the US and the coup regime rather than the restoration of a democratic solution) has failed. The coup regime has failed to meet the one-week deadline to restore Zelaya to his post as president in a reasonable amount of time to allow a ``clean'' election process.

The National Resistance Front Against the Coup (according to polls supported by more than 70% of the population) has announced that it will not recognised the November 29 presidential election, and the only opposition candidate, Carlos Reyes, has withdrawn his candidature.

Brian Senewiratne.

October 22, 2009 -- Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Queensland -- In September 2008, the government of Sri Lanka ordered all aid agencies (including the UN agencies) to leave the ``northern war zone'' -- inhabited by Tamils -- of Sri Lanka. Socialist Alliance member Brian Senewiratne explains the history of Sri Lanka and the attacks on the oppressed Tamil people of the north and east.

Following the Sri Lankan government's war on the Tamil people in 2008, UN agencies had been delivering food and medical aid to nearly 160,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), i.e. refugees, in the Vanni, the Tamil area just south of the Jaffna Peninsula. There were 13 aid groups in the region, providing emergency food aid, clean water and sanitation to some 200,000 people living in refugee camps and under trees in this area. All agencies except ICRC, the Red Cross, left. A humanitarian crisis is now unfolding.

Honduras, September 30, 2009.

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October 6, 2009 -- Latin Radical -- Democracy Now! reporter Andres Corteris, inside the Brazil embassy with President Manuel Zelaya, says there may be a ``light at the end of the tunnel''. Elements within the military and business community that originally backed the coup are putting pressure on the Micheletti coup regime to negotiate. Zelaya and his supporters are in good spirits, having just celebrated the birthday of the president's grandchild. He sends a gruff ``Saludos'' to community radio in Australia. But for the people of Honduras the issue now goes far further than reinstating Zelaya. They are demanding the constitutional reform and determined to defy the suspension of constitutional guarantees that has unleashed a wave of repression.

Democracy Now! September 29, 2009.

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By Fred Fuentes, Caracas

October 1, 2009 — Green Left Weekly — The dictatorship in Honduras, which overthrew the elected government of Manuel Zelaya in a military coup on June 28, has stepped up its reign of terror. A state of siege remains in place. The most recent targets of the repression have been Radio Globo and Channel 36 — the two main media outlets opposed the coup and giving the popular resistance movement in the Central American country a voice. The continual repression has affected the size of anti-coup protests.

However, the ongoing resistance has caused further cracks to open within the pro-coup forces as support for the resistance spreads.

“They have just attacked our comrades from the resistance who had been protesting at the offices of Radio Globo”, Dirian Pereira from the National Resistance Front Against the Coup in Honduras (FNRG) told Green Left Weekly over the phone from the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Mike Bradley was one of the original workers who occupied the offices of Vestas. He gave an impassioned speech at the August 8 rally in Newport, Isle of Wight, where he reminded supporters that the struggle for Vestas to be nationalised can still be won. Video from Ventnor Blog.

[For more background information, go to http://links.org.au/node/1168 and http://links.org.au/node/1175.]

[For more background information, go to http://links.org.au/node/1168 and http://links.org.au/node/1175.]

Ventnor Blog -- August 5, 6pm, 2009 -- With Mike Godley having left yesterday, we spoke to Mark, one of the six who are still inside at the Vestas sit-in. We discussed how they had to reorganise themselves now four people have left.

He said that that morale was still good and how they’ll “still be fighting Vestas”. Mark explained that “It was strange to have that many people leaving at once.”

It’s unclear if Vestas have applied for bailiff papers to have them removed from the building. Vestas have issued a statement that they are very patient and that they can wait. Mark said, “They did ask us yesterday that if we wanted to leave the door open they would come in and get us. We replied ‘No’.”

Is it time to dust off a copy of Das Kapital and revisit Marx's analysis of capitalism's ills?

Michael Lebowitz has recently been in Australia as a featured guest of the World at a Crossroads conference, held in Sydney April 10-12, organised by the Democratic Socialist Perspective and Green Left Weekly. He was interviewed by the ABC Radio's Late Night Live on April 14, 2009.

Left Click -- Ian Angus is the editor of climateandcapitalism.com and a founder of the Eco-socialist International Network. He is also associate editor of Canada's Socialist Voice and the director of the Socialist History Project. Ian toured Australia (Perth poster, left) in the run up to the World at a Crossroads conference held in Sydney on April 10-12, 2009, which was organised by the Democratic Socialist Perspective.

May 3, 2009 -- Workers at Visteon, following a four-week battle, have gained a victory. After the occupation of the Visteon plants and 24-hour picketing when the company announced its liquidation, Ford/Visteon bosses were finally forced to concede to the workers' demands. Workers in Enfield and Basildon have already voted in favour of the deal, while those at Belfast will be voting soon. Below are reports and videos that recount events as they unfolded.

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