Nyah, Nyah

With fingers in their ears the North Koreans defied the world. North Korea says it successfully performed its first-ever nuclear test

While Iran only wishes it could.Iran: Sanctions Threat a 'Rusty' Weapon

And all this gamesmanship would be unnecessary if the Americans would only agree to face to face negotiations with both countries.Iran to negotiate deals with US companies if sanctions dropped

Wait a minute this was North Korea's first ever nuclear test...you mean they had untested nuclear weapons? We were worried about untested untried nuclear weapons.


See:

Iran

North Korea



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First Oda Then Ambrose

Sung to First We Take Manhattan Then We Take Berlin by Leonard Cohen

Round 1. Progressives unite to lobby for Bev Oda's resignation. Politics and Poetry has a backgrounder and an action link to the contact page for you to email your MP. And the Opposition of course.

Round 2. Progresives unite with environmentalists, automakers, and unions to demand Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has to go. Use the same link page and email your MP demanding the Invisible Minister resign when she fails to come up with a Green Plan.




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Faith Based Capitalism

As Harpers "New Government of Canada" begins to unveil its hidden agenda, all those issues that were not priorities but campaign messaging become priorities. For instance it's faith based politics were revealed in the Tories "universal daycare" program, which it isn't.

And in its current floating of the idea of defense of religion legislation should it lose the vote on defining marriage as a Christian heterosexual institution.

If that succeeds this would be the result.....

Favors for the faithful: Religion outweighs regulation

At any moment, state inspectors can step uninvited into one of the three child care centers that Ethel White runs in Auburn, Ala., to make sure they meet state requirements intended to ensure that the children are safe. There must be continuing training for the staff. Her nurseries must have two sinks, one exclusively for food preparation. All cabinets must have safety locks. Medications for the children must be kept under lock and key, and refrigerated.

The Rev. Ray Fuson of the Harvest Temple Church of God in Montgomery, Ala., does not have to worry about unannounced state inspections at the day care center his church runs. Alabama exempts church day care programs from state licensing requirements, which were tightened after almost a dozen children died in licensed and unlicensed day care centers in the state in two years.

The differences do not end there. As an employer, Ms. White must comply with the civil rights laws; if employees feel mistreated, they can take the center to court. Religious organizations, including Pastor Fuson’s, are protected by the courts from almost all lawsuits filed by their ministers or other religious staff members, no matter how unfairly those employees think they have been treated.

And if you are curious about how Ms. White’s nonprofit center uses its public grants and donations, read the financial statements she is required to file each year with the Internal Revenue Service. There are no I.R.S. reports from Harvest Temple. Federal law does not require churches to file them.

Of course this is just more North American christian revivalist fundamentalist protestant and Catholic influencing the neo-con right. Who in order to get elected to power lose any pretence to libertarianism.

There is an outright injustice in tax payers paying twice to the church. First because it is tax free, so we carry the church load in social payments, second in that the government then subsidizes it with taxpayer grants. That the Canadian Taxpayers Federation those fiscal conservatives don't take this on, nor does the non-moralist conservative right, shows the disproportionate influence of the Church on the anti-state right.

More stories on Harper's imitation of Bush

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Bottom Feeders

The New Government of Canada proves again it is just like the Old Government of Canada. In this case it has refused to sign the international ban on bottom trawlers, the most destructive environmental form of deep sea fishing. Just as the Liberal government before them who refused to ban Whaling, the Conservatives support this destructive form of fishing. But in this case it is not for the benefit of fishing communities in the Maritimes or indigenous peoples, it is for the benefit of a few big state capitalized monopoly corporations. Who suck off the public teat with corporate subsidies.

"The Fisheries Council of Canada, which represents fish processors and marketers, said it supports Hearn's "responsible, pragmatic and effective" approach to bottom trawling."

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Indentured Servitude

I have written here before on the plight of modern slavery in Canada, the so called indentured servitude program of the Federal Government, that allows nannies and other guest workers into the country to work with no labour protection, and they face deporation if they do not remain with the family that sponsors them. Now it appears there is another form of slavery and exploitation of women occuring in Canada; mail order brides.

Mail order brides face exploitation in Canada, BC researcher says

A new study by Simon Fraser University's Jen Marchbank says the scenario is not unique. Mail-order brides coming to Canada have little knowledge of their rights and face exploitation at the hands of unscrupulous husbands.

And the business in Canada is thriving, thanks in part to the Internet.

She details the situation Mail Order Brides: Causes, Experiences, and Policy Responses in North America

Many of the problems such women face in Canada come as a result of changes to this country's marriage laws as they relate to immigrants.

"Unlike many U.S. states, the industry is unregulated in Canada," says Marchbank. "In this country, there are no specific rules to control agencies, which work transnationally, and no specific provisions to ensure that brides know their rights."

Recent changes in Canadian marriage law regarding common-law spouses could also have implications.

"This might aid unscrupulous men in deceiving women into entry to Canada with a promise of marriage - then not being able to leave the man without threat of deportation."

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act changed the definition of a spouse in 2001 so that certain common-law marriages are recognized under the family section of immigration rules.

Under those rules, a woman can come to Canada as a common-law spouse without being married elsewhere. That, however, puts a women at the mercy of her husband.

Should the relationship fail, she could be deported.

Congrats to the Green Party for speaking out on this issue. To bad it has not gotten more coverage.

Party Leader Elizabeth May says the situation is akin to "human trafficking."

May said women coming from countries outside of western cultures suffer due to their lack of language skills and support systems.

"All the more so in this particular group where women come in, potentially as mail-order brides without any support and are subject to abuse," May said. "We've heard about situations where it's really not a marriage; it's actually sexual exploitation."

While the Minister of the Status of Women, Bev Oda stood in the house this week justifying her funding cuts to that program, she stated one of reasons was that now the Conservative government was focusing on the international campaign against the trafficking in women.

"In a few short months the new Conservative government has provided safety in communities by putting more law enforcement officers on the street. We have provided $1.4 billion in affordable housing. We introduced legislation and movement on human trafficking.''

Thats ironic since it is clear that the Canadian government endorses and abets both indentured servitude and the trafficking in women.

So are they going to end indentured servitude in Canada and regulate the mail order bride progam? Guess she better talk to Monte Soldberg about it since it is his department that is in charge mail brides and the Minister of Labour who is charge of rules around indentured servitude. Because so far it is all talk that has come out of the Tories.

Bill C-49 the act to criminalize trafficking in human beings was passed by the Liberal Government in 2005.

And all the Tories want to do is address it in it's international context, as if it is just a case of what used to be called the white slave trade, the exploitation of women coming to Canada from Eastern Europe to work in the sex industry. They don't want to look at the real root causes of both indentured servitude of women workers, like nannies, and mail order brides from the third world; womens poverty. Of course not that would be advocacy as defined by Oda and the Conservatives.

Conservative Government Refuses to Address Women’s Economic Security

The Conservative government refuses to address women’s economic security, which is the root cause of human trafficking and many other social problems, Liberal Status of Women and Multiculturalism Critic Maria Minna said today. At a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women held Thursday to determine the work plan for the fall session of Parliament, Conservative and Bloc Quebecois members voted to study human trafficking, while Liberal and NDP members pushed for the study of economic security for women, identified as one of the chief causes of human trafficking.

“Human trafficking is a serious issue affecting women around the world, and one of its primary causes is a lack of economic security for women. The Conservative government’s failure to address this issue comes as a severe disappointment,” said Ms. Minna.

“Significant progress has already been made through anti-human trafficking legislation passed under the previous Liberal government, but in order to further our fight we must address the causes behind this and other social problems facing women – namely, that women are economically disadvantaged,” said Ms. Minna.

“Women are economically disadvantaged and it is time for action,” Ms. Minna said. “I am extremely disappointed the Conservative and Bloc Quebecois members have chosen to revisit this law and order path instead of addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality among women.”

See:

Resign



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Afghanistan-Five Years After

As I have said before the Canadian mission in Afghanistan changed in May 2006 from Peace Keeping to taking over for the Americans in their search and destroy mission in the South. And contrary to the war apologists on the right the previous mission was about Peace Keeping.

This weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan what the U.S. did in those five years was that it refused to allow the expansion of peacekeeping troops from Kabul to the rest of the country, saying that it would interfere with the so-called hunt for Taliban and al-Qaeda, and it re-empowered these misogynist and fundamentalist warlords in the northern part of the country and allowed them to take part in government. Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence.


Also See:

Afghanistan






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India Is Now A Capitalist State

India world leader in greasing palms: India doesn't just have loads of corruption at home, it is also the world leader in exporting graft. Months after Transparency International ranked India as among the more corrupt societies in the world, the NGO’s Bribe Payer's Index 2006 shows that Indian exporters are more willing than their counterparts from other countries to pay overseas bribes to secure business, clinch contracts, do deals and generally get on in the world. While this is the third BPI released by Transparency, after the ones in 1999 and 2002, it is the first time India has featured in the index. It was considered too economically insignificant and lacking global spread and reach in the earlier rounds.

And who does India do export business with?

The US, India's biggest market accounting for 17% of India's total exports, the UAE, the second largest trade destination for Indian exports with an 8.5% share.

So who benefits from bribery? Look at which American companies have invested in India recently. And which Indian companies have been dominant players in global corporate takeovers.

US warns India of investment fallout from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo row

Gulf Arabs to pour billions into India real estate

Of course the UAE also has it's own corruption scandals in particular in Dubai, which has a Canadian connection.

India has a long history of corruption encouraged by British Imperialisms use of the Dutch East India Company for their own primitive accumulation of capital.

All capitalism is based upon the primitive accumulation of capital, that is the criminal acquisiton of wealth in its earliest period of development.

Democracy is less important to captialist development than corporate crime resulting from a capitalist state that allows for private accumulation through state policies of deregulation. See my article; Neo Liberal State Capitalism In Asia

Asia outsourcing: China, India and Southeast Asia as sourcing partners

The irony of these issues of transparency is that the it is based on WTO member capitalist states and their corporations that rate the countries invovled. You know corporations like Enron, Comcast, Apple, etc. all whom have been involved in some form of corporate malfiescence in their own countries. Kettle, pot, black.

See:

India

Mittal

Corporate Crime


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Organic Botulism

First it was the organic spinach recall, now it is organic carrot juice.

I have dumped my carrot juice down the drain.

Carrot juice linked with Toronto illnesses

Toronto Public Health believes two people became seriously ill after drinking carrot juice from a U.S. company.

Botulism is suspected, Dr. Elizabeth Rae, Toronto's associate medical officer of health, said Saturday.

A Florida woman has been in hospital, unresponsive, since mid-September. Three people in Georgia suffered respiratory failure and are on ventilators since drinking carrot juice a month ago.

One of the three brands of recalled carrot juice.
(CBC)

'Dump it down the sink'

The recalled products, all sold in both one litre and 450-millilitre containers, are:

• Bolthouse Farms 100% Carrot Juice.
• Earthbound Farm Organic Carrot Juice.
• President’s Choice Organics 100% Pure Carrot Juice.

Products with a “best by” date up to Nov. 11 have been recalled.

This is a blow to the moralistic community of food faddists who proclaim a holier than thou philosophy that their diet is morally superior. I am of course speaking of PETA and Vegans. The fact is that vegetables in North American , even those proclaimed as being 'organic' are still produced by corporate agribusiness, capitalism by any other name.

Spinach Recall Becomes Criminal Investigation

So while they complain about corporate farming practices around animals to justify the morality of their diets, the fact is that all food stuffs produced by large corporate agribusiness, if not properly regulated and inspected can kill you.

Vegan or not.

See:

Agribusiness

Vegans

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Boreno is Burning

From NASA Earth Observatory.

Natural Hazards: Fires on Borneo
The fires occur annually in the dry season (August-October), caused mainly by land-clearing and other agricultural fires. Fires escape control and burn into forests and peat-swamp areas. Fires in peat—thick layers of dead, but un-decayed vegetation—are extremely smoky and difficult to put out

This is another contributing factor to the acid rain cloud over Asia, along with increased car pollution. It is also a problem of desertification. Now withthese fires in Borneo another area faces desertification thanks to international agribusiness. This is not the frist time fires have gotten out of control in the Indonesian islands. Nor will it be the last.

The agricultural burning is a by product of palm oil production which is the major commdity export business in Indonesia dominated by agribusiness cartels like Cargill.

As I wrote back in 1997;

"In the fall of 1997 the islands of Sumatra and Borneo caught fire, and burned through out the fall and winter. The devastation and resulting air pollution covered not only Indonesia but its neighbours in Thailand and Malaysia. The government and corporations at first blamed peasants for the fires, saying it was caused by slash and burn agriculture.

In reality it was the slash and burn policies of the Indonesian government and its corporate partners like Cargill, which created the conditions which led to this ecological disaster. News reports reveal that the fires were started to clear land for palm oil planatations!"

There is nothing natural at all about these fires, they are the result of deliberate slash and burn policies of the palm oil industry.

The illegal brush fires were started by farmers or agricultural companies on Borneo and Sumatra islands as a cheap way of clearing the land.

See:

Agribusiness

Desertification

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A Counter Challenge

Olaf over at Prairie Wrangler which describes itself as blog by "Repentant freethinkers, with tips on how to rope rookies, blowhards and chumps from across the political spectrum..." usually keeps the rope handy for those on the left and progressive end of the political spectrum.

Repeating oft said arguments around the rights current bugaboos, Status of Women, abortion, etc. he is upset that no-one talks to him. Well perhaps if he would take up an argument that actually posits some debate that would not be limited to stereotypical attacks on straw-men and charactures of the left he would get some response.

He like many others on the right make the falacious argument that we lefties and progressives are all in lock step. That we don't disagree, that our arguments are warmed over Michael Moore...none of them of course have heard of Chomsky, just kidding of course they have, they atttak him for being a rich guy...any ways it's a stereotype lefty they attack. So here is a real lefty challenge for Olaf.

Here is his opportunity. As he has been so kind as to link me as a Best Mouthpiece,I will challenge him to prove I am a lock step lefty on these issues;

1. Smoking

2. The Seal Hunt

3. Tax cuts

4. Wages for Housework

5. Free Trade

6. Kyoto




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