UN Report Says We Need A Living Wage

Canada failing to care for poor, disadvantaged: UN report

Yep ever since 1995, when Paul Martin became Finance Minister and Ralph Klein kicked off his phoney war on the debt and deficit on the backs of the poor, unions and public sector workers.

The UN committee's findings are particularly harsh in regards to cuts made under the previous Liberal government to federal transfer payments earmarked for social services. The report suggests the cuts have had a serious impact on the standard of living of many of the country's minority groups. UN committee delivers harsh appraisal of Canada's social services

But it saved its harshest critique for how the Liberals, and now the Harpocrites, use EI to fund their surplus while denying Canadians basic economic rights. UN report criticizes Canada's EI program

While those who are optimists will focus on the fact that the committee reports;
Despite Canada's economic prosperity, the report says, roughly 11.2 per cent of the population lived in poverty in 2004. That is a drop from 13.7 per cent in 1998.

They will say we are doing better, when we still have over ten percent of the population living in poverty, many of those are women; as single mothers and seniors. Which is why we need a Social Wage.



Also see:

Living Wage articles




Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Harper, childcare, welfare, socia-assistance, GAI, Living-wage, miniumum-wage, Canada, government, daycare, AISH,
living-wage, social-wage, Canada, EI, EI, reform, social-safety-net, workers, tax-cuts, tax-breaks, income-support,
Liberals, 1995, Klein, UN, poverty, EI, Martin

Harpers Billion Dollar Blunder

The Liberals blundered over the helicopter purchase by the Mulroney government, which the Chretien Liberals made an election promise to renege on. They did. Costing us billions in the lost contract and then billions more in replacing the helicopters.

Now the Harpocrite government has done the same thing with the canceling the Liberal Governments Environmental programs. One of their five priorities.

Ironic ain't it.

Tech firms see red in Tory pullout

Canada is paying a huge price in lost investment and business development because of Ottawa's dithering over climate change, industry people say. In particular, we're missing opportunities in the burgeoning global trade in pollution credits — a system that played a big role in reducing acid rain and is now widely viewed as the best way to induce businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.The plan devised by the previous Liberal government, they say, was flawed and developing at a frustrating turtle speed. The new Conservative government has caused further delay by killing that plan without anything to put in its place."The do-nothing option is not free," says Len Eddy, president of AgCert Canada, the Edmonton-based Canadian branch of an international company that invests in emissions-cutting projects. "It's an extremely expensive option. "Analysts estimate the lost investment this year totals as much as $1 billion. It's gone forever, Eddy says.

Also See:

Kyoto

Harper

Rona Ambrose

Climate Change

Global Warming

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
helicopters, Kyoto, Canada, Mulroney, Chretien, Harper, PM, Conservatives, Environment, government

Harpers Ideal

Here is the result of law and order platforms embraced by the right, and what we can expect with the Harpocrite Government's new crime laws.

The US Prison Industrial Complex is growing by 1000 people a week thanks to, wait for it....the War on Drugs.

Something the Harpocrite has declared as part of his law and order policy for Canada. So this is what we have to look forward to.

The United States continues to have the highest prison population in the world, withe 1,000 inmates added to the nation's prisons each week from June 2004 to June 2005.

At mid-year 2005, jail facilities were operating at 95% capacity;

The Sentencing Project, an advocacy group, reports that the U.S. incarceration rate in 2004 was the highest in the world, at 724 per 100,000 population. Second was Russia, at 532 per 100,000.

'The data is clear: Drug use is driving up prison numbers throughout the region,' the state's corrections secretary Tim Reisch said in the news release. 'In South Dakota, we are directing our resources to address the issue head on.'

One American in 136 is in prison.


Imagine that more prisoners in the 'land of the Free' than in Russia. And both countries share something else in common, the disreputible use of Capital Punishment.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
US, Prisons, Prison-Industrial-Complex, Harper, law&order, Canada, crime, Conservtives, government

Maxim Jail Time

No this is not a case of free speech it's a case of idenity theft and a violation of that most sacred of all American property; intellectual property. It is also just unintelligent, period.

Khushboo case: SC refuses to grant bail to Maxim editor

New Delhi, May 22: The Supreme Court today refused to grant anticipatory bail to Sunil Mehra, editor of the magazine Maxim, against whom a case has been registered for publishing indecent morphed photographs of Khushboo. The actress had sued the Indian edition of men’s magazine Maxim for a picture published in its inaugural January issue. She filed a defamation case along with criminal and obscenity charges against the British publishers as well as the editors of the Indian edition. The magazine morphed Khushboo’s face onto a woman clad in black lingerie, with the caption, ‘‘Of course I am a virgin if you don’t count from the behind’’ under it. Despite the fact that the fine print under the picture reads, ‘‘Women you will never see in Maxim’’ as well as ‘‘100% fake’’, the actor doesn’t see the humour. ‘‘I’m not an object. This incident has damaged me and the publishers must pay for the damage,’’ she said.

And she is not the only star complaining about Maxim ripping off their 'images' to use in their magazine.

Model Complains About Corbis Photo On Maxim Cover


May 18, 2006

By Daryl Lang

Model Veronica Varekova is publicly accusing Maxim magazine of using her image on its cover without her permission, though the magazine says it licensed the photo legitimately from Corbis. "They put me on the cover without my permission," Varekova told the Associated Press this week. "They have no right to do it." The photo of Varekova, topless and seen from the back, was shot by photographer Michael Williams for the British edition of GQ last year and licensed to the American edition of Maxim through Corbis Outline. Varekova's complaint draws light to the common practice of reusing photos shot for one magazine in another market. (It is also convenient publicity for Maxim's June issue, which hit newsstands today.)

As they say on Hawaii Five-O; Book 'Em Danno.

Clearly Maxim fails to follow the Playboy principle of paying its models, photographers, and authors, etc. Imagine that a principled Mens Magazine; Playboy NOT Maxim.


And no you will not find Sidney Crosby in Maxim.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Veronica, Varekova, Khushboo, Maxim, India, America, UK, Mens-magazines, Playboy, Supreme-Court, bail, editor, intellectual-property

Anarchist Humour

I thought that this was a particularly funny comment in an pithy ironic sardonic anarchist fashion.

It shows that not all of us support the stupid twits in the Animal Liberation Front, as you can tell from my rants about the Seal Hunt.

And here is another case in point about animal research being useful. Yes I said that. Perfect Cure for Cancer Found In Mice

Which is why I don't subscribe to the ideology of the Green Anarchist.
While remaining a Social Ecologist.


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
cancer, mice, ALF, anarchist, anarchism, animal-liberation, Seal-Hunt
green-anarchy, left-libertarian, social-ecology, Zerasan, Bookchin

Carnival of Personal Finance

The Carnival of Personal Finance 49 is online now, and your humble scribe has a contribution in this issue.

To my critics who decry capitalist ads in a libertarian communist blog, ya have to know how capitalism works to critique it, and one thing it teaches is TANSTAAFL.
An anarchist taught me that.


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
carnivals, blogs, blogging, bloggers, carnival-of-personal-finance, aggregators, finance, Heinlein, TANSTAAFL, left-libertarian, capitalism, anarchism, anarchist, agorist

Sid Crosby Metrosexual

I came across this cheescake shot of Sidney Crosby at Jes Gőlbez hockey Rants

While it graced the pages of Vanity Fair poor Macho Jes thinks its eye candy for the girls.

Poor deluded fool, this is homoerotica if ever there was any. But then Jez does have a thing for Sid.

Oh right only straight men watch hockey. Yeah right, boys.

Vanity Fair is the very epitome of Metrosexual, unlike say oh, Maxim.



Is this a cheapshot against Jes?
Yep.
He hates the Oilers.





Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
metrosexual, Sidney, Crosby, NHL, hockey, cheesecake

Swedens Ugly Win

While all eyes were on the NHL games this weekend, it was the final round of the IIHF World Cup in Riga, Latvia. And Sweden defeated Canada on Saturday to go on and win their second Gold Medal, after winning against Team Canada at the Olympics.

This however was an ugly win, not worthy of the Swedes, and frankly a lousy call by the Refs. A major nasty cross check was put on Sidney Crosby, the young outstanding Canadian in the game, after he scored.

While assessed as a major penalty of five minutes, it should have been a major game misconduct worthy of losing a player for the rest of the game. It was an ugly cross check to Crosby's face knocking off his helmet , busting his nose and knocking him to the ice while he was celebrating his goal.

Sid's effort falls short

The game was comfortably in Sweden's control until Crosby was viciously cross checked in the jaw by Mika Hannula after scoring to make it 5-3 with 35 seconds to play in the second period.

He left the game feeling dizzy but had a breakaway 10 seconds after returning in the third period. Crosby then set up Patrice Bergeron's goal to get Canada within one and had a few chances to tie it.

It was a performance that left his teammates in awe.

"I think it said a lot to us the way Sid came out and played the third period because he was in rough shape during the second intermission," said captain Brendan Shanahan. "It says a lot to hockey fans and the people of Canada."

It was malicious and brutish. Something that one expects in the NHL but not in International Hockey. But then look where Sweden and the other Europeans play hockey, in the NHL.

As it was Crosby went on to score another goal, but it wasn't enough to win. That cheap shot, cheapened the game, and the Swedes win. What victory they gained in the Olympics is now tarnished, and their Gold Win in the World Cup was not won by gentlemen but by thugs.

Canada loses 5-4 to Sweden in semifinal

The game looked comfortably in Sweden's control until Crosby was viciously cross-checked in the jaw by Mika Hannula after scoring to make it 5-3 with 35 seconds to play in the second period.

The Canadian star had his arms in the air in celebration after poking his own rebound past Johan Holmqvist when Hannula ran him into the end boards. Crosby stayed down for a minute before being taken straight to the Canadian dressing room.

Hannula was assessed a five-minute major and given a game misconduct, but Canada only got a three-minute power play after a melee ensued.

"It was a blatant cross-check to the face," Canada coach Marc Habscheid said. "It's disappointing, especially when there's smiles and laughs on their bench. . . .

"He's a great player, I don't know what they were doing."

Crosby returned for the third period and broke in alone on Holmqvist just 10 seconds into the period, but was stopped by the Swedish goalie.

His revenge would still come. Crosby took control of the puck behind the goal while still on the power play and fed Bergeron, who one-timed it by Holmqvist at 3:38 to narrow the lead to 5-4.

As Canada pressed for the tying goal, the Swedes continued to test Crosby with late hits after the whistle. The teenager's temper was questioned a couple times during the NHL season, but he showed no signs of losing his cool here.

"I think it said a lot to us the way Sid came out and played the third period because he was in rough shape during the second intermission," Canadian captain Brendan Shanahan said. "It says a lot to hockey fans and the people of Canada who are still trying to figure him out."

In a lot of ways that game ended it for Canada, demoralized they could not win against Finland whom they played for the Bronze. The cheap shot on Crosby, and the continued attacks on Canada's Star Player shows that the age of Gretzky is over even in International Hockey, and the rough and tumble NHL rules, rule.

Pluck just not enough
`Drained' Canadians give their all but come up empty versus Finns
Olympic champion Swedes blank Czech Republic to win gold

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Crosby, IIHF, World-Cup, Hockey, Team-Canada, Sweden,

Montenegro By A Nose

`Victory' for Montenegro

Balkan state votes for independence, unofficial tally shows

Opponents of break with Serbia refuse to concede defeat

An unofficial count of all ballots by a referendum monitoring group gave Yes forces 55.5 per cent of the vote — slightly above the 55 per cent minimum set by the European Union for the sovereignty vote to be recognized.

I would say winning by .5 is a Pyrrhic victory And it resolves nothing leaving both sides now dangerously divided, and thus could increase the potential for politcal upheaval and instability in Montengro more than anything else. Reminding us once again of the dangers of independence by referendum.

Something Quebec also learned the hard way in 1995. And which the Federal Clarity Act will to little to correct.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Montenegro, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Independence, Quebec, referendum, pyrhhic

Anarchism A Google Trend

I looked up Anarchism on Googles new tool; Google Trends and found that Greek was the language used most often to look up Anarchism. No surprize there since Anarchy comes from Greek; Anarkos. Which may explain why Anarchy gets confused with Kaos sometimes, exactly Mr. Shmart.

English was second and Swedish third, yes there is a large Anarcho Syndicalist movement in Sweden. Proving my thesis that you need a strong social democratic movement and government to create a condition for a strong extra-parliamentary left opposition, the very ocean within which anarchism spreads.

New Zealand topped the list for regions where references to anarchism can be found. Canada I am pleased to say came ahead of the U.S. and U.K. in sixth place. Not to shabby.

When it came to cities Vancouver came second behind Dublin (which is home to the Platformist Anarchist movement) and ahead of Auckland. The US. West Coast was well repersented of course with Seattle, Portland and San Fransisco. Surprising London England home of Freedom Magazine was missing.

The four most popular articles since 2004 are;

	Teen Columnist: Music fat cats bastardizing punk rock, anarchism Tucson Citizen - Sep 7 2004
	Indigenism, Anarchism, and the State ZNet - Apr 29 2005
	The triumph of anarchism Hindu - Dec 10 2005
	Venezuela 2006: Anarchism against all odds Bay Area Indymedia - Mar 10 2006

Now compare that to Libertarian which is dominated by English language and American sites and you can see which is the real Internationalist movement.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
anarchy, anarchism, Google, Trends, internet, www
libertarian, left-libertarian,