It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Presentation slides for a lecture on the "modern revolution" in thinking that occurred ca 1500 CE. A brief overview of the Medieval worldview is presented in order to highlight the order that was overturned by the moderns. Some of the historical factors contributing to the modern revolution are enumerated: linear perspective in painting, the fall of Constantinople, Gutenberg's Bible, the Voyages of Discovery, modern warfare, Luther's 95 Theses, and the Copernican revolution. The notion of "Three Waves of Modernity", as articulated by Leo Strauss, is briefly presented. Finally, the philosophy of Machiavelli is summarized as a way of understanding the modern shift in thinking. For instance, war is no longer judged as the "right" course of action if it is in accordance with a Providential design (the Medieval view); rather, war is judged as the right course of action if it advances the overall "human designs" of the Machiavellian leader.
Join us tomorrow night for a consultation on our Rural Broadband High-Speed Internet Strategy.
Access to high-speed internet is essential for economic and business innovation across rural Alberta. We simply cannot compete globally, attract new investment, or sustain vibrant communities without stable, reliable, high-speed internet.
That means no more dial-up. No more waiting to be connected. Albertans deserve a better plan, from downtown Calgary to remote family farms, and the only way we get there is by developing a strategy for high-speed internet connectivity right across Alberta.
We have recently released our policy proposal to improve rural internet connectivity and connect all Albertans to affordable high-speed internet by 2027. These proposals are not final. We want to hear your thoughts, ideas, and criticisms so that we can work together to build the best plan for all Albertans.
Join MLA Jon Carson, MLA Heather Sweet and MLA Deron Bilous to discuss our plan to connect all Albertans to affordable high-speed internet and hear your thoughts and ideas.
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Canada
Province Introduces Five Days of Paid Sick Leave
The BC Federation of Labour acknowledges the milestone, but says it falls short of the 10 days that workers had asked for.
Andrew MacLeod 25 Nov 2021 | TheTyee.ca Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria and the author of All Together Healthy (Douglas & McIntyre, 2018). Find him on Twitter or reach him at amacleod@thetyee.ca.
About half of BC workers currently lack paid sick leave, and they are disproportionately the most vulnerable people in the province, said Labour Minister Harry Bains.
Photo by Jonathan Hayward, the Canadian Press.
B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains says the government has struck the right balance by deciding employees in the province will be legally entitled to a minimum of five days per year of employer-paid sick leave.
The new entitlement is short of the 10 days that most workers participating in a government engagement process said they supported and that the BC Federation of Labour said should be the minimum.
“Five days is a sustainable solution given the challenges faced by many sectors,” Bains said. “I think it’s all about balance and listening to people.”
The new minimum applies to all workers covered by the Employment Standards Act and will be in force starting Jan. 1, 2022. It includes part-time employees, but not people who are self-employed or work in federally regulated sectors.
Last May, the B.C. government created a temporary paid sick leave that covered up to three days as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the risk of people going to work sick and spreading the disease because they couldn’t afford to miss a day’s pay.
Under the measure, which expires Dec. 31, the government has been reimbursing employers up to $200 per day to help cover the wages for people off work because they were sick.
According to a budget update earlier this week, of the $325 million budgeted for the program, only $15 million had been spent as demand fell short of the worst-case scenario the government had projected.
In September, Bains announced the government would make paid sick leave permanent but hadn’t decided how many days it would cover or whether the government or employers would pay for it.
It launched an engagement process, during which 81 per cent of workers and 19 per cent of employers said they supported 10 days of employer-paid sick leave. More employers and fewer workers supported the other two options the government gave, five days or three.
Anita Huberman, the president and CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, participated in the government’s announcement and said she believes five is the right number of days.
The BC Federation of Labour released a statement saying that while the announcement was a significant milestone, it fell short of the coverage sick workers need.
“We’re disappointed that it’s only half the 10-day standard that science supports and that is the overwhelming preference of British Columbians,” said president Laird Cronk.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, speaking alongside Bains, said the need for paid sick leave was one of the many lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are all in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat,” she said. “We have seen that the pandemic has exposed and amplified inequities, and experiences have been quite different for different groups of people.”
In particular, women and marginalized, lower-income and racialized people have carried a heavier burden in the pandemic, and it’s become clear that economic policies have health impacts, she said.
Bains said about half of B.C. workers lack paid sick leave and they are disproportionately the most vulnerable people.
“These are the very people who can least afford to stay home and lose wages when sick,” he said. “I firmly believe no worker should have to choose to go to work sick or stay home and lose wages.”
BC Commits to Paid Sick Leave by Jan. 1, But Details Still to Come READ MORE
The BC Liberals released a statement saying they supported the introduction of paid sick leave but criticized the decision to “burden” employers by passing the cost on to them.
BC Green Party Leader and Cowichan Valley MLA Sonia Furstenau said paid sick leave is needed to keep people healthy and reduce transmission of infectious diseases, but the number of days should be based on desired public health and economic outcomes.
“Most OECD countries have 10 days or more of paid sick leave,” she said. “That’s because paid sick leave is an essential public health measure, and an important basic standard for business. Government should closely monitor the impacts of this policy over the next year, and work with labour advocates and business to explore moving to match other OECD countries.”
Furstenau also said the government should make sure small and medium-sized businesses are supported so that the financial burden isn’t dropped on already stretched business owners.
Alberta worker advocacy group applauds Ottawa's 10-day sick leave bill, calls on province to follow suit
The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) applauded Friday's announcement but said the ball is now within the court of the province to extend paid sick leave provisions for all workers since the legislation would apply to 10 per cent of the overall Canadian labour force.
"Workers have waited far too long for this common-sense policy," said AFL president Gil McGowan, "10 days of paid sick leave is the minimum that policymakers should be pushing for — and the minimum that workers should accept." Read our press release.Read news story.
Action
Demand paid sick leave for all Alberta’s workers
Go to work sick or stay home without pay and even risk losing your job—Alberta’s workers shouldn’t have to choose between these options. But Jason Kenney is forcing them to choose and workers are saying enough is enough! Alberta’s workers need 10 permanent, paid sick days so they can afford to take time off from work when sick. Send an email to Jason Kenney to demand paid sick leave today!
REST IN POWER
African designers say fashion icon Abloh helped 'open door' Virgil Abloh was artistic director for Louis Vuitton men's collections
(AFP/FRANCOIS GUILLOT)
Camille MALPLAT Mon, November 29, 2021
African fashion designers on Monday paid tribute to American star designer Virgil Abloh for helping "open the door" and allowing them to be seen and heard in the global industry. Artistic director for Louis Vuitton men's collections, Abloh, whose family was from Ghana, died on Sunday of cancer aged 41, after becoming the first major black designer to be recognised in an industry often criticised for its lack of diversity.
"Thank you Virgil for your bravery and talent, which disrupted and allowed so many people to be seen and heard. You held open the door, we'll never forget you," South African designer Thebe Magugu, the first African winner of the LVMH prize in 2019, wrote on Instagram. Abloh's partnership with Kanye West took him from Chicago's skate and DJ culture to the heights of the fashion world, first with his own red-hot label Off-White, and then into the luxury industry in Paris.
His cancer diagnosis came just a year after he was appointed as head of menswear for Louis Vuitton, becoming the first black person to take an artistic director role at a top French fashion house.
Though born in the United States, Abloh has never forgotten his Ghanaian roots: in January 2021, the designer brought Kente, a traditional fabric worn in Ghana during major ceremonies, to the catwalks of Louis Vuitton.
"It is a huge loss for world fashion, all the more shocking because it was unexpected," said Cameroonian designer Imane Ayissi, who in 2020 joined the closed circle of fashion houses during haute couture week in Paris.
"He remains a model for part of the population by proving that it is possible to creatively and successfully manage one of the very top luxury houses, whatever one's origin and one's skin colour." - African streetwear -
Nigerian designer Bubu Ogisi told AFP that as many Africans in the diaspora are taken away from their culture while growing up, fashion was one of the ways Abloh used to pay tribute.
Abloh also had a strong influence on streetwear brands in Africa, said Ogisi, director of the Iamisigo brand, whose creations showcase fabrics and techniques from the continent.
"A lot of friends who have street brands in Nigeria and in Ghana have taken references from Off-White," he said, referring to Abloh's luxury streetwear brand.
"Gone too soon, thanks for supporting African skaters," trendy Nigerian skate clothing brand Wafflesncream posted on Instagram on Monday.
A fan of hip-hop and urban culture, Abloh helped finance a skatepark in Ghana's capital Accra.
He had also worked with UNICEF to promote education and entrepreneurship in the West African country.
Throughout his career, the designer strove for more inclusiveness in the fashion industry.
In 2017, he confided during a conference at Harvard University that he found it difficult to see himself as a designer as designers did not look like him.
His career give hope to many black creators, in the West and on the African continent.
"A few black people in the world have risen above and really pioneered a shapeshifting idea that anyone can be anything and Virgil has been that guy from day one," said Adedayo Laketu, a young Nigerian designer who founded the couture brand Pith Africa.
"I want to do a billion more and go harder cause he has shown and told me it's possible."
cma/aml-pma/tgb
Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland's staunch feminist PM Iceland's Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir has become a unifying force (AFP/HANNAH MCKAY)
Sun, November 28, 2021
Katrin Jakobsdottir, who on Sunday kicked off her second term as prime minister of Iceland, is a popular and fervent feminist who has become a unifying force after years of political upheaval.
The country's three coalition parties agreed that the 45-year-old former journalist would remain premier, a post she has held since 2017, despite her Left-Green Movement's weak showing in September's legislative election.
That mere fact illustrates Jakobsdottir's pivotal role in the unusually broad coalition, made up of her Left-Greens, the conservative Independence Party and the centre-right Progressive Party.
The unlikely alliance has been hard for some in her party to accept.
"I know I've been criticised for it, but when I look back, I think this government has done a good job and I think it has really shown what is possible in politics," she told AFP in a recent interview.
Jakobsdottir has won over Icelanders with her integrity, sincerity and consensual management style.
Almost 60 percent said they wanted her to stay on as prime minister, in a poll published in October, even though her party won only 12.6 percent of votes at the ballot box.
A former education minister, from 2009 to 2013, she has remained down-to-earth and avoided scandal during her years in power, earning the people's trust according to analysts.
"Katrin Jakobsdottir is a very skilled politician (who) has more of a consensus style than confrontational style," notes University of Iceland political science professor Olafur Hardarson.
This is only the second time since 2008 that a government made it to the end of its four-year mandate on the sprawling island of 370,000 people.
Deep public distrust of politicians amid repeated scandals sent Icelanders to the polls five times from 2007 to 2017.
However, holding onto power has come at a high price, with Jakobsdottir forced to make concessions on key issues like immigration and the environment during her first term.
She had to back down from a promise to create a national park in the centre of the country, to protect a natural national treasure, after her two allies refused to support the legislation. - Footie and books -
Born into a family of academics and lawmakers, Jakobsdottir is the second woman to head Iceland's government.
Her concern for the environment was awakened in the 2000s by a controversial project to build a hydroelectric dam in eastern Iceland.
"I wouldn't say I was the most radical activist in town, but, yes, I began my political participation through demonstrations," she told US magazine The Nation in 2018.
She joined the youth wing of the Left Green Movement in 2002, before becoming deputy leader a year later. She has been the head of the party since 2013.
The slender, athletic politician has been a member of parliament for 14 years.
A huge football fan, she has rooted for Liverpool FC since she was a child.
That makes for a sometimes tense atmosphere in her Reykjavik apartment, where her husband and three sons are all Manchester United supporters.
"I clearly didn't raise my children well enough," she joked on a radio show earlier this year, blaming her husband who has spent more time with their children due to her hectic schedule.
In a country that champions gender equality, she has made women's causes a priority. Among other things, she has extended parental leave.
Her friends are meanwhile quick to point out her funny side.
"With her sense of humour and jokes she can put a room at ease," says former party member Rosa Bjork Brynjolfsdottir who studied with her at university.
With a degree in Icelandic and French studies and a Masters in Icelandic literature, Jakobsdottir is a fan of crime novels and fiction, finding time to read almost every day.
"It's like a kind of therapy at the end of the day," she has said, revealing last year that she was working on her first crime novel with a local author.
str/map/po/pvh
China to provide 1 billion Covid vaccine doses to Africa, President Xi says
China will deliver another 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa and encourage Chinese companies to invest no less than $10 billion in the continent over the next three years, President Xi Jinping said on Monday.
The country has already supplied nearly 200 million doses to Africa, where vaccination rates have fallen behind amid growing concern over the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which was first identified in southern Africa.
Xi said 600 million doses would be donations and 400 million doses would be provided through other means such as joint production by Chinese companies and relevant African countries. China will also build 10 health projects in Africa and send 1,500 health experts, he said.
In a speech via video link at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Xi said a China-Africa cross-border yuan centre would be set up to provide African financial institutions with a credit line of $10 billion, without giving further details.
China will provide $10 billion of trade finance to support African exports, create a zone for trade and economic cooperation and build a China-Africa industrial park, he said.
The announcement comes amid criticism of China's infrastructure-for-commodities deals that some experts say saddle countries with unsustainable debt. Democratic Republic of Congo is currently reviewing a $6 billion deal with Chinese investors over concerns that it is not sufficiently beneficial to Congo.
The Belt and Road Initiative, in which Chinese institutions finance major infrastructure in mainly developing nations, has slowed: Chinese bank financing for infrastructure projects in Africa fell from $11 billion in 2017 to $3.3 billion in 2020, according to a report by international law firm Baker McKenzie.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a four-nation tour of the region last week that Washington was pushing for cleaner deals without unsustainable debts.
Xi says imports from Africa to reach $300 billion
China's imports from Africa, one of its key sources of crude oil and minerals, will reach $300 billion in the next three years, Xi said, adding that the two sides would cooperate in areas such as health, digital innovation, trade promotion and green development.
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, also speaking via video link, thanked China for its support and said African economies should be able to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines.
Discussions at the World Trade Organization on a temporary TRIPS waiver to make COVID-19 vaccines and treatments available to all needed to be finalised, he said, while criticising the travel curbs imposed on South Africa.
BETTER PASSENGERS THAN ANTI-VAXXERS
30 South African white rhino relocated to Rwanda in a Boeing 747
Two female nothern white rhinos graze at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Rhinos have few predators in the wild due to their size but have been devastated by poaching for their horns (AFP/TONY KARUMBA)
Mon, November 29, 2021
Thirty endangered white rhinos arrived in Rwanda on Monday after a long journey from South Africa in a Boeing 747, conservationists said, hailing it as the largest single transfer of the species ever undertaken.
The majestic animals, which can weigh up to two tonnes, travelled some 3,400 kilometres (2,100 miles) from South Africa's Phinda Private Game Reserve as part of a programme to replenish the species' population, decimated by poaching since the 1970s.
Once plentiful across sub-Saharan Africa, white rhino suffered first from hunting by European settlers, and later a poaching epidemic which largely wiped them out.
The rhinos began their 40-hour journey to the new home in Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda following months of preparation, said African Parks, a charity headed by Britain's Prince Harry which is involved in the exercise.
"We had to tranquillize them to reduce their stress, which is itself risky, and monitor them," said African Parks' CEO Peter Fearnhead, calling the project a success.
The animals were transported in a chartered Boeing 747 and were placed in two grassy enclosures -- each the size of a football stadium -- after arriving in the park.
Later they will be allowed to roam the expansive park, authorities said.
"This will provide an opportunity for them to grow in a safe environment from South Africa where three are killed per day by poachers," said the park's regional manager Jes Gruner.
Wildlife transfers are not without risks. In 2018, four out of six relocated black rhinos died a few months after arriving in Chad.
The southern white rhino, one of two subspecies of white rhino, is now considered endangered with about 20,000 individuals remaining, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
It is classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). - Breeding programme -
The northern white rhino has all but vanished, with only two females left alive.
Scientists are attempting to save the species from extinction by harvesting eggs from the younger of the two animals, Fatu, and using sperm from two deceased males to create embryos in an unprecedented breeding programme, which is their last chance at survival.
Rwanda, which is positioning itself as a top Big Five safari destination, received five eastern black rhinos in 2019 from the Czech Republic and 17 from South Africa in 2017.
Not a single eastern black rhino has been poached at the Akagera park since their re-introduction in 2017, according to its regional manager Gruner.
Rhinos have few predators in the wild due to their size but have been devastated by poaching for their horns -- used in traditional Chinese medicine.
According to the IUCN, there are around 5,000 black rhinos left in the wild, compared to more than a million in the mid-19th century.
str-ho/amu/tgb
Endangered gazelles spring back in Jerusalem park
by Delphine Matthieussent
A mountain gazelle surrounded by common myna birds at the Gazelle Valley, an urban nature reserve in the heart of Jerusalem.
A few years ago, only three mountain gazelles were left in Jerusalem's shrinking green spaces, the rest having fallen victim to predators, road kills and urban development.
Today the endangered species has bounced back and a herd of about 80 of the graceful animals roam a small nature reserve within Israel's biggest city, the Gazelle Valley Park.
Created six years ago by Jerusalem City Council and the Society for the Protection of Nature (SPN), the green oasis sits inside one of the city's most dense urban development areas.
Today the park, which can be visited free of charge, is the only one in Israel where gazelles live protected—a sanctuary badly needed by a species under intense pressure.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature placed the mountain gazelle on its Red List in 2017, saying its population was declining due to poaching, road kills and habitat degradation.
"We place the gazelles in as natural an environment as possible, so that we don't make them dependent on humans and so that we can release some of them into the wild in the future," said park diector Yael Hammerman-Solar.
Urban 'green lung'
Endemic to the Levant, the population of mountain gazelles in Israel is now estimated at about 5,000, but falling due to urbanisation and other pressures, said a recent study by Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel Aviv University and Uri Roll of Ben Gurion University in Beersheva.
In Jerusalem several years ago, the construction of a ring road suddenly "blocked the corridor that allowed the gazelles to reach other open spaces outside Jerusalem," said Hammerman-Solar.
"The animals, stuck in the valley, were decimated by stray dogs and jackals or were run over by cars on the ring road."
The SPN then fenced off the about 25 hectare (60 acre) green space and reintroduced a dozen animals, a breeding herd that has since grown to more than 80 individuals.
The park is bordered to the east by a future tramway line, and to the west by a clifftop real estate complex called Holyland.
The Gazelle Valley Park, with a series of ponds, brings other benefits too to the Holy City, said Amir Balaban, head of urban flora and fauna at SPN.
Home to diverse native plants and rich birdlife, it acts like a green lung and recreational space "by regulating temperature, producing oxygen ... and offering residents a place to connect with nature".
WHO calls for treaty to shield against next pandemic Nations are meeting in Geneva from Monday to Wednesday to discuss an international agreement setting out how to handle the next pandemic -- which experts fear is only a matter of time. (AFP/Guillem Sartorio)
Robin MILLARD Mon, November 29, 2021
The world must study the wreckage of Covid-19 and say "never again" by striking a pandemic preparedness treaty, the WHO said Monday as countries gathered to build the foundations of a new accord.
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said another disastrous pandemic was bound to happen unless countries showed the resolve to strengthen global defences.
Nations are meeting in Geneva from Monday to Wednesday to discuss an international agreement setting out how to handle the next pandemic -- which experts fear is only a matter of time.
The gathering comes with the planet still besieged by Covid-19, nearly two years on from the first cases recorded in China, and now shaken by Omicron, the new Covid variant of concern.
WHO member states reached a consensus Sunday on kick-starting the process towards a pandemic treaty.
The draft decision was secured after countries agreed to compromise -- notably the United States, which is luke-warm on whether the outcome needs to be a legally-binding treaty.
The decision is expected to be formalised on Wednesday.
- Shadow of Omicron -
"The emergence of the highly-mutated Omicron variant underlines just how perilous and precarious our situation is," Tedros told world leaders at the start of the three-day gathering.
"Omicron demonstrates just why the world needs a new accord on pandemics.
"Omicron's very emergence is another reminder that although many of us might think we're done with Covid-19, it's not done with us.
"It will all happen again unless you, the nations of the world, can come together to say with one voice: never again."
This meeting of the World Health Assembly -- the WHO's decision-making body comprising all 194 member states -- is an unprecedented special session on how to handle the next pandemic.
It should thrash out how far countries are prepared to go towards legally-binding commitments on issues like equitable vaccine distribution, knowledge-sharing, financing and oversight structures, with any final deal due to come into force in 2024.
A key issue down the line could be whether countries want beefed-up powers for the WHO to investigate the sources of outbreaks. Tedros said the lack of data-sharing early in the Covid pandemic had been a hindrance.
"One of the expectations of this treaty is to be able to improve the WHO's capacity to monitor and assess the situation in countries: the investigative power of WHO," a French diplomatic source said.
- 'Make history' -
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said the world was unprepared for Covid-19 and "for that weakness, we all paid a great price."
"Steps must be taken to ensure that this will not happen again, that when the next pandemic comes, and it will come, it will find us better prepared," he said.
Under the draft decision, WHO member states agree to establish an intergovernmental negotiating body "to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response".
The body's first meeting must be no later than March 1 next year to elect two co-chairs and four vice-chairs.
A progress report will be presented at the regular World Health Assembly annual gathering in 2023, with the final outcome presented for consideration at the 2024 WHA.
European Council President Charles Michel, who first got the ball rolling on a pandemic treaty, said: "I hope we will make history. The situation in the world demands it.
"Yesterday's informal agreement is a huge step, and now it's time to capitalise on this momentum to make the world a safer place."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for reform of how countries fund the WHO so it can react more flexibly to crises.
"Measures for better prevention and response to pandemics should be laid down in a pandemic treaty, binding under international law," she said.
Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset said the world needed to take immediate, bold action, as he called for a legally-binding instrument.
"The issues at stake are too important. We don't have the right to fail," he said.
rjm-bur/nl/dl
NAFTA CHOO CHOO
Is A Railroad Linking Mexico, Canada And US On The Way? Mexican Regulators Approve $31B Move
A railroad that would link Mexico, Canada and the U.S. has been approved by Mexican regulators. The project would operate about 20,000 miles of rail through North America and has the potential for about $8.7 billion in sales, while also helping transition to a greener economy.
The regulators in Mexico approved Canada Pacific’s $31 billion deal to merge with Kansas City Southern, with a plan to link the railroads to Mexico. U.S. regulators have not approved major railroad mergers since the 1990s, the Associated Press noted.
The rail line to Mexico will come from Kansas City Southern, which already has a line from the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas to Texas. Canadian Pacific’s network meets with Kansas City Southern’s line in Kansas City. Canadian Pacific Kansas City would be the name of the new rail line.
The two companies are waiting on key shareholders to approve Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern, and U.S. and Canadian regulatory approval.
On Friday, the companies said the review of the deal could continue into the fourth quarter of 2022. It would take a while for the railroad to be built, considering the current timeline.
“This historic combination will add capacity to the U.S. rail network, create new competitive transportation options, support North American economic growth, and deliver important benefits to customers, employees and the environment,” said Keith Creel, CEO of Canadian Pacific.
