A confidential Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex the Arab area of Jerusalem, using illegal Jewish settlement construction and the vast West Bank barrier, in a move to prevent it becoming a Palestinian capital.

In an unusually frank insight into British assessments of Israeli intentions, the document says that Ariel Sharon’s government is jeopardising the prospect of a peace agreement by trying to put the future of Arab East Jerusalem beyond negotiation and risks driving Palestinians living in the city into radical groups

So THAT’s what Sharon is up to…

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In a widely expected decision, Judge Victor Montiglio charged Pinochet in connection with the kidnapping and disappearance of seven dissidents in the early years of his 1973-90 dictatorship, his office said.

According to the civilian government that succeeded Pinochet in 1990, 3,190 people were killed for political reasons during his regime. More than 1,000 others remain unaccounted for after being arrested and tens of thousands fled their homeland to exile.

Pinochet, a butcher, was put into power by the US in a coup that ousted the democratically elected Salvador Allende.

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The Bush administration decided not to charge Jose Padilla with planning to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in a US city because the evidence against him was extracted using torture on members of al-Qaida, it was claimed yesterday.

I’m speechless…

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Sue in email to a friend re Bush threatening to bomb al-Jazeera.

Bob finds it mind-boggling that they can’t get their stories straight. It’s so obvious, Blair saying ‘publish and be damned,’ and Bush saying ‘damn it, there’s nothing to publish.’ Essentially they’ve confirmed the “outlandish” rumor by suppressing it. I love when they shoot themselves with their own weapons of mass distraction. It’s *so* stupid, I wonder if there might be something else damning in the memo — it does run to five pages, after all. Lots of paper with which to build an obituary.

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A Local Street Peace Initiative by Tookie Williams (pdf, 26 pgs.)

I am convinced that peace is possible, despite the many lives that have been lost from years of youth gang warfare. This document is designed to assist those whose aspirations are to create a cease-fire, end gang violence and restore social order. Pessimistic individuals may quote the English translation of the Latin phrase, si vis pacem, para bellum – if you desire peace, prepare for war. But I strongly disagree.

Real peace will conquer war.

Tookie Williams will be executed on Dec. 13 for a crime he says he didn’t commit. During his decades in prison he has worked tirelessly to stop gang violence and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times.

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Breakdown FM: Save Tookie Rally at San Quentin on Nov. 19, w/ Snoop Dogg, Fred Hampton Jr, T-Kash & Ex-Gangbangers

When Snoop spoke he explained how Tookie’s turnaround about 10-11 years ago inspired him to re-examine his life and step things up. He noted that the biggest change came when Snoop started a football league for young people.He said that Tookie inspired him to reach out and be more real with people and to move onto higher ground. It should be noted that Snoop was the main architect behind the the West Coast peace Summit held earlier this year.

Fred Hampton Jr of the POCC reminded the crowd that San Quentin is the place where they killed political prisoner George Jackson and that the irony of the crowd coming to prevent the execution of a peace maker should not be lost on folks. He noted that the system is out to get us all no matter what we do and the best way to combat it is through organized resistance…

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Yet another example of the worldwide stuggle to keep water public.

The award of the contract to Vtiens International, a Dutch company and Rand Water from South Africa to manage Ghana Water Company was a trade-off between the government and IMF/ World Bank, whose stench had long been in the air.

Available records show that these two institutions have been the significant drivers of water privatization and in the last decade, they have made remarkable investments in these sectors across the developing world with the aim of preparing them for privatization.

In fiscal year 2005, the World Bank spent over $7 billion in these sectors, including about $3 billion in the water and sanitation sector. Does the $1.2 million World Bank grant to Ghana for the water sector rehabilitation ring any bells?

The truth underlying water privatization is that corporations are pressuring their governments to help them penetrate lucrative overseas markets.

The institutions require governments to prepare <Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers>  PRSPs as a condition for receiving financial assistance, which must necessarily include privatization of essential services, like water. That perhaps, explains why we have had to barter away the water to multinational corporations.

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