Last week, a US-Canada oil pipeline exploded in Minnesota, briefly affecting global prices—and highlighting the criticality of Canadian resources to the US and global economy. Our November issue featured the story "Flashpoint in the Flathead: US-Canada War Looms Over Energy, Water" by WW4 REPORT editor Bill Weinberg, noting resource conflicts now brewing in regions that span the border—such as the Flathead Valley, where coal mining on the British Columbia side is opposed by farmers and environmentalists downstream in Montana. Writes Weinberg: "While on the economic front all talk is currently of integration and falling trade barriers, battles are already being waged by the grassroots both sides of the border against resource plunder and mega-development schemes. These could eventually mean war between the two longtime allies if a populist government comes to power in Ottawa and tries to turn off the spigot of south-bound resources—and the Pentagon has already drawn up plans for this contingency." Our November Exit Poll was: "Which is a more likely prophecy of the future: George Orwell's 1984 or Michael Moore's Canadian Bacon? (In other words, is the US on a trajectory towards eventual war with Canada, or are we just paranoid?)" We received the following responses:

From Newsday, Nov. 26:

Tour bus runs over woman in Chinatown
A New York City sightseeing tour bus ran over a woman on a Chinatown street yesterday, sending her to the hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.

If you still think religion isn't political, this should disabuse you of your illusions. Ironically, the exiled Dalai Lama moves towards modernity, suggesting his successor could be elected rather than chosen by the cosmic forces of reincarnation. China, bizarrely, attempts to play a Tibetan fundamentalist card against the Dalai Lama, insisting that the ancient ways be honored—as long as the cosmic forces submit to Beijing's will, of course. From the BBC, Nov. 28, emphasis added:

Gillian Gibbons, the British school-teacher sentenced to 15 days in prison in Sudan for naming a class teddy bear "Mohammed," has been transfered to a secret location after thousands of Sudanese—many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums—marched in Khartoum to demand her execution. Some burned pictures of Gibbons and chanted "Kill her! Kill her by firing squad!" (Canadian Press, GMA, Dec. 1)

Rebels in Chad have declared war on the former colonial power France. Mahamat Hassane Boulmaye, spokesman for the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), said in a statement: "The UFDD considers itself to be in a state of belligerence against the French army or any other foreign forces on national territory." He said the EU peacekeeping force to be stationed in Chad to help police neighboring Darfur is a "a hostile act," adding: "We will view the European soldiers as enemies, whether they are French or Austrian."

Turkey attacked PKK rebel targets in northern Iraq Dec. 1, saying it inflicted "heavy losses." The Turkish General Staff said it ordered artillery and air-strikes against a group of "50 to 60 terrorists...inside Iraq's borders" southeast of the Turkish town of Cukurca, Hakkari province. "If necessary, other army units will intervene in the region," the statement added. While there have been mounting reports of Turkish strikes on Iraqi territory in recent weeks, this is the first time Turkish authorities have admitted to such an attack.

Colombian prosecutors on Nov. 22 ordered the detention of an army captain, Guillermo Gordillo, for participating with paramilitary killers in the massacre of eight civilians, including three children, in San José de Apartadó in February 2005. (Fiscalia press release, Nov, 22) "The community was right," read the Semana headline about Gordillo's detention Nov. 24. The case led to the suspension of more than $70 million in US military aid that year. The prosecutors' move acknowledges what Peace Community leaders said from the beginning, but was categorically denied by Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos (nominally designated as the Colombian state's human rights representative) and high military officials.

On Nov. 23, approximately 5,500 Colombian and Ecuadoran women marched for demilitarization, to end violence against women, to construct peace with dignity and social justice and for a negotiated solution to the conflict. Their celebration was to mark Nov. 25, the International Day to End Violence Against Women. This was the seventh year that women from all over Colombia mobilized "to make visible" an area of conflict in the country and specifically, how that conflict impacts women. Women marched from Tulcan, Ecuador and Ipiales, Colombia: they met at the international bridge of Rumichaca, the border between the two countries.