Under the banner Idle No More, thousands of Canada's aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and their allies have staged mass demonstrations in cities and towns all around the country in protest of the abusive treatment of indigenous people in Canada by the Canadian government. Mass marches have peacefully taken over the streets in Ottawa, while Round Dance flashmobs (nodding to both traditional indigenous dances and social media-fueled protest practices of late) have popped in around Canada and even in a handful of U.S. cities in solidarity.

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As students at public institutions around the nation are crippled by student debt, why should anyone care about the introduction of fees for a small number of graduates at a prestigious, privately funded East Village school? I have, of course, begged my own question here: the only reason to care about the Cooper Union occupation is if it is about more than that. There's good reason to say that it is.

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Using a blockading technique never implemented before, Matt Almonte and Glen Collins locked themselves between two barrels of concrete weighing over six hundred pounds each. Located twenty-five feet into a pipe segment waiting to be laid in the ground, the outer barrel is barricading the pipe’s opening and neither barrel can be moved without risking serious injury to the blockaders.

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Nov. 28th: Hacktivist Jeremy Hammond was told last week by federal judge Loretta Preska that he was being denied bail and could face life in jail for his alleged involvement with the Anonymous/LulzSec hack into the computers of the private intelligence firm Stratfor.

Civil liberties advocates have decried the state's harsh treatment of the activist, who was reportedly held in solitary confinement for five days in Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center and has so far been imprisoned for eight months without trial. Now, Hammond's supporters believe they have an extra and important string to their bow: a release from Anonymous reported that the federal judge who denied Hammond bail is married to a client of Stratfor and was personally affected by the infamous hack.

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Enter: Radi-Aid, a campaign to send radiators to frostbitten Norwegians. Watch as a rapper called Breezy V explains the perils of sub-zero temperatures, and let's Africans know that they have the power to help:

In Norway kids are freezing / It's time for us to care / There's heat enough for Norway / If Africans would share

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Mraz will headline a free outdoor concert on Dec. 16 at People's Square in Yangon, at the base of Shwedagon Pagoda.

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter is believed to be the first international artist to perform an open-air concert in the country. The show includes local acts and is hosted by MTV EXIT, the music channel's initiative to raise awareness about human trafficking and exploitation.

"That's pretty exciting," Mraz said of the history involved, "and I'm going there with an enormous amount of gratitude and respect, and I hope we can actually make a difference. I hope it's also a testament to the songs. I've always wanted my songs to be about healing and self-empowerment, and if this is the way MTV is acknowledging that, then I am incredibly grateful."

The show, which will include local acts, will be broadcast on Myanmar national television and will air on MTV's international network in 2013. Mraz hosted a similar concert in the Philippines last year. He first became interested in the issue about four years ago when he attended the Freedom Awards, an annual salute to those working against human exploitation put on by the organization Free the Slaves.

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"How can you top that?" asked Bradbury, a New York City neonatal nurse who had helped evacuate infants from a hospital that lost power during the height of Superstorm Sandy. She was amazed that she was being honored at the same event as a Supreme Court justice — the annual Glamour Women of the Year awards, where stars of film, TV, fashion and sports share the stage with lesser-known women who have equally impressive achievements to their name.

Few events bring together such an eclectic group of honorees, not to mention presenters. At the Carnegie Hall ceremony Monday night, HBO star Lena Dunham, creator of "Girls" and a heroine to a younger generation, was introduced by Chelsea Handler and paid tribute in her speech to Nora Ephron, who died earlier this year. Ethel Kennedy was praised by her daughter, Rory, who has made a film about her famous mother. Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas, 17, was honored along with swimming phenom Missy Franklin, also 17, and other Olympic athletes, introduced by singer Mary J. Blige and serenaded by American Idol winner Phillip Phillips. Singer-actress Selena Gomez was lauded by her friend, the actor Ethan Hawke.

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If there’s one thing that I try to emphasize to people about American Madisonian democracy, it’s that chances to really effect change are usually found within the parties. Sure, general elections are important, but they tend to ride on large, impersonal forces. Sure, activism can make a difference in November, but usually just around the margins. The Democrats' get-out-the-vote operation this cycle was by all accounts incredibly effective, and yet my guess is that when all is said and done, at the very best it might have moved the ball a point or two in key states … so if you devoted your time and energy to that it made a difference, but only a relatively small one. Or, to put it another way: Sheldon Adelson dropped a whole lot of money on this election, and it didn’t seem to buy anything much.

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"They used a completely disproportional amount of force against us," said Elik Elhanan, an Israeli peace activist who had sailed aboard the European ship Estelle. Via a press release, Elhanan described that naval ships surrounded their boat before marines boarded the Estelle. The activist said that the soldiers "used the taser to give me electric shocks." He added, "Even after they completed their takeover of the boat, they continued to use the taser and administer more shocks. But if they think they could deter me and those who sailed with me, they are mistaken."

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Plante's support network announced Friday that she was released from federal prison a couple of days ago after spending a week in solitary confinement. The announcement says that information is scarce and that Plante, having believed she would face 18 months behind bars, is too traumatized to speak to the media. For unknown reasons, the announcement notes, Plante was classified as "different" from the two other Seattle grand jury resistors also taken in to federal custody in recent months. Matt Duran and Kteeo Olejnik remain incarcerated. Little is known about Duran's prison conditions, but it is believed he has been kept largely in solitary confinement. The statement from Plante's support network Friday noted that the freed grand jury resistor "urges people to step up support for Matt and Kteeo on all fronts."

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No matter where we live, we face the same struggle against national state and profit driven interests, and their hold on education. Increasing tuition fees, budget cuts, outsourcing, school closures, as well as other phenomena are linked to an increasing commercialization and privatization of education.

This month, ISM hosted Web-based chats with students from Morocco, Bangkok, Vienna, New York and many other locales leading up to today's “Global Day of Action to Reclaim Education.” The blend of high tech and grass-roots activism is still being tested, but it has already emboldened students to coordinate a Global Education Strike for Nov. 14-22.

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Top spot on Art Review magazine's annual Power 100 list is taken by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, who runs the Documenta 13 art fair in Kassel, Germany.

Other entrants include gallery owners Larry Gagosian, Iwan Wirth and Jay Jopling and Tate director Nicholas Serota.

Ai is the highest-rated artist, at No. 3, ahead of figures including Gerhard Richter and Damien Hirst.

Pussy Riot, in 57th spot, is a new entry on the list, compiled by an international jury and released Thursday.

Two of the all-female group's members are in prison for staging an anti-government performance in a Moscow cathedral.

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Fourteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head by the Taliban last week as she was returning home from school in Pakistan. She was airlifted Monday to Britain to receive specialized medical care and protection from follow-up attacks threatened by the militants.

Medical Director Dr. Dave Rosser of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham stressed Tuesday that security was "under control" at the hospital after the overnight incident. He said several people had turned up at the hospital claiming to be the girl's relatives but didn't get very far.

He said the people were arrested, but police said they had only been questioned.

"We don't believe there's any threat to her personal security," Rosser told journalists, explaining the hospital did not believe the suspects were related to Malala. "We think it's probably people being over-curious."

Police would not immediately confirm the details of the incident.

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In her BBC blog, Malala wrote about not wearing her uniform to school after officials warned it might attract the Taliban's attention, and how many other students moved out of the valley after the Taliban issued an edict banning girls from school. She wrote about how the Taliban movement had kept her family from going out after sunset.

While chairing a children's assembly supported by UNICEF in the valley last year, the then-13-year-old championed a greater role for young people.

"Girl members play an active role," she said, according to an article on the U.N. organization's website. "We have highlighted important issues concerning children, especially promoting girls' education in Swat."

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Fairchild, joined by actress-turned-activist Darryl Hannah, threw her arms up in front of the machinery and proclaimed: "I don't want tar sands anywhere in the United States. I am mad. This land is my land ... it's about all of our country" but to little avail. Fairchild was arrested on eminent domain grounds.

As Nation of Change reported, however, the issue of eminent domain is especially complicated here. The government is allowed to seize private property with or without the owner's consent (although with fair compensation) in cases where a project is considered to be of public use or benefit.

A judge ruled that Keystone XL Pipeline owner, TransCanada, could be granted eminent domain (and hence the ability to arrest Fairchild on her own ranch when she refused to negotiate with the company).

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A delegation of 32 American women have traveled to Islamabad and will march alongside Pakistani organizers and political groups to South Waziristan -- a nucleus of Taliban militancy regularly struck by U.S. drones. The aim of the trip is to draw greater attention to the harm wrought by drone attacks, while reaching out and building solidarity with Pakistanis on the ground.

"We want to make it known to Pakistanis that there are Americans with a conscience who do care about their lives," Code Pink co-founder and delegation organizer, Medea Benjamin told Salon on the phone from Islamabad.

"We've encountered some overwhelming admiration over the fact that we're here, willing to put ourselves at risk," said Benjamin, who said she has been meeting with human rights groups, women's groups, Pakistani generals, U.S. diplomats and even members of the military spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Islamabad.

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Beijing's No. 2 Intermediate Court rejected a second and final appeal of the $2.4 million fine levied against Ai's design company for alleged tax evasion. The company earlier submitted a financial guarantee of $1.3 million to officials in order to get a review of his case. That money will be automatically collected, Ai said, but he won't pay the difference.

"Our intention is that we are not going to pay," Ai said. He said he wasn't sure what will happen as a result and still had to discuss the plan with his lawyers.

The internationally known artist, who has long used his fame to highlight injustice, and his supporters have interpreted the penalty as official retaliation against his activism. The fine was levied last year, soon after he was released from detention in an overall crackdown on dissent.

Ai and his company, Fake Cultural Development Ltd., accused the tax bureau of violating laws in handling witnesses, gathering evidence and company accounts. The court rejected those claims, and the ruling cannot be appealed again.

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Within 24-hours of stepping into power, the Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois announced that the fee rise would be cancelled. She also repealed the contentious Loi 78, a draconian anti-protest law passed in mid-May to contain and control the then-nightly mass mobilizations of around 300,000 students and supporters.

Voices from the moderate end of student leadership celebrated Marois' election and the repeal of the fee hike. The Montreal Gazette reports:

“It’s a total victory!” said Martine Desjardins, president of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, which is the largest student association with about 125,000 students. “It’s a new era of collaboration instead of confrontation.”

Representatives from the more radical, influential student union, CLASSE, were less unmitigated with their praise. In a press release, they note that the fee hike repeal "is not the end of the fight and that student and citizen mobilization should continue." For many individuals and groups involved in the six-month strike, the proposed tuition hike was just a trigger issue to mobilize against neo-liberal education reform and more.

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