Once again, those of us who follow the Gregorian calendar are marking the passage of one year and the inauguration of another; as always, there seems to be an irresistible human urge to mark such times with a spate of commentary about “the year in review,” “what the next year holds in store,” “new year’s resolutions,” and so forth.

When my nephew was killed in Iraq on August 6, 2005, my parents agreed to be interviewed by local television anchors and newspapers. They declared: “George Bush killed our grandson.” They never wanted their grief to be so public, but they needed to make a statement. They hoped to prevent others from hearing the unthinkable—the words that changed their lives forever.

A TUC conference motion passed this September pledging support and solidarity for the Latin American country provided the backdrop for a visit which proved priceless both in terms of finding out about the situation in the country and in countering disinformation on the Chavez government.

The United States is going through one of the most politically turbulent periods in recent memory. The administration of George W. Bush is facing a profound crisis of legitimacy.

The family was told their house, left vacant after Zumera and her daughters moved down from the mountain village after the quake, had been seized by nephews of Zumera's late husband, Muhammad Ilyas...Even though, under the law, her daughters should get at least a share in the inheritance, this is frequently denied to women.

Can there be any doubt that if the White House finds out who leaked the story of its illegal spying, fierce retribution will follow? Another way of asking that question is: Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?

THE National Security Strategy of the USA proclaimed on September 17, 2002 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html) is a brazen exposition of a new and hitherto unheard of doctrine of applying force against other countries on pretexts of danger to its security perceived or imagined.

What happened these past days in Bolivia was a great revolt by those who have been oppressed for more than 500 years. The will of the people was imposed this September and October, and has begun to overcome the empire’s cannons.

The 2005 Conference on Kerala's development is being held 11 years after the International Congress on Kerala studies in 1994. That Congress was a seminal one in charting out a course for Kerala's development.

The class struggle is in some respects like a baseball game. There really isn't a time clock, as there is in most other team sports, but a series of innings that can go on indefinitely, where one team has its chance to score and then has to take the field to keep the other team from scoring.

Try as I might to believe that the President accidentally got it all wrong about those weapons of mass destruction and ties to 9-11, I just can't seem to square it with the fact that the White House pressured the CIA to get it wrong or else.