Wednesday, June 21, 2006

A Crime of Historic Proportions

American democracy in decay: US Congress debates the Iraq war

Neither the Republicans, who hold a narrow majority in both the House and Senate and generally support the Bush administration’s conduct of the war, nor the Democrats, the nominal opposition party, could tell the truth to the American public. Neither side in the debate could admit what the vast majority of the world’s politically conscious population, including millions of Americans, already knows: that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq constitute a crime of historic proportions.


You can say that again. Why don't we. All together now;

the US invasion and occupation of Iraq constitute a crime of historic proportions.


See

CIA Creates Fortress Europe For Torture

Quagmire

The White House War Criminals

My Lai Redux




Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Aw Shucks


Le Revue Gauche is one of my favourite blogs of all time. Eugene Plawiuk, guerrilla brainiac at large, makes mincemeat out of just about everyone. This guy is an equal opportunity billshit detector. Here's his take on Iggy's speechifying at the last debate re that whole "narrative" hocus-pocus blah-dee-blah: The Professor Versus the Populist If Ignatieff becomes leader of the Liberals it will

Aw shucks thanks. It's a tough job and somebodies got to do it. But it is nice to be appreciated.


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , ,

Big Daddy State


Forget the liberal nanny state, this is the age of the Conservative Big Daddy State. Whose motto is do as Daddy says not as Daddy-do.Harper, six Tory MPs on ultimate boys' night out

And as everyone knows the nanny is better liked than Big Daddy, specially when he thinks that Father Knows Best. However with Big Daddy's baby bonus most Canadians can't afford day care let alone a nanny.
Canadians Rejecting Harper Government Child Allowance, Poll Shows





Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , ,

Zionist State Murders Children, Again


And one cannot say this is blood libel. Just business as usual for the Zionist Occupational State. Israel Murders Innocents

Where is the outrage?
Three children killed by Israel air strike on Gaza

Or the outrage over their lying about killing unarmed innocent civilians as there would be over suicide bombings in Israel.

Missles and artillery are the weapons of war. Nothing personal. Just killing Palestinians errr terrorists.
Israel fires missile at Gaza: witnesses

Because they have a political agenda and security of the working class in Israel is not part of it. The rocket attacks from Gaza have been a convivent excuse to continue the Zionist State's relentless campaign of assisination of Palestinian leadership.

Israeli Town Shuts Down to Protest Attacks

The Israeli army has failed to halt the rocket fire despite airstrikes and artillery attacks, putting Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a resident of the town, in an awkward position. As the demonstrations began Tuesday, Palestinian militants fired at least three rockets from the northern Gaza Strip, about three miles away. No damage or injuries were reported.


The majority of the rockets fired by Hamas and other militants have been about as effective as fireworks, more bust than bang. But are perfect excuse for Israel to continue its air offensive on selective targets. The Isreali government has abandoned this town, while focusing its efforts on protecting its illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

And as you read the news headlines once again the death of Palestinian families and children will be pushed aside for the phoney outrage over the rocket attacks on this town in Israel. Even though they have been no more effective than fireworks.

On this the 350 anniversary of the readmission of the Jews to England, who as a result of British pogroms suffered real blood libel and the resulting massacres through out Europe for the past four hundred years. The Zionist State is not their natural inheritence but a State of conviniance formed for them by the British and allies after WWII. It is not the answer for the crimes committed against Jews by the blood libel. Rather it is now the excuse for the Zionists to blood libel their opponents.


Also See:

Israel

Zionism



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , ,

Why I Oppose Capital Punishment


Two words, nouns, proper name;
Steven Truscott.

Autopsy drafts that would have cleared Truscott never given to defense




Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , ,

The Professor Versus the Populist

If Ignatieff becomes leader of the Liberals it will be the pontificating pompous Professor versus the Pulsimonious Prairie Populist. There I said it, loqacious alliterations and drooling adjectives.

MP and academic star Michael Ignatieff, fast becoming the high-profile front-runner in the leadership race, said the choice facing the party comes down to "who among us has the best chance of defeating Stephen Harper? Beating Mr. Harper means defeating his narrative."

Damn I wish I paid more attention to Cultural Studies so I would understand all this grand narrative, deconstructionist, post-modern politics of our Harvard man. Actually its just good old fashioned Canadian Whig politics.

So he is going to bore us all to death, gawd can the man be more expressionless, droll, dry and monotone, wait those were Harpers qualities, and Ignatieff has them and in spades.

Ignatieff vs Harper the narrative, or story line, will be little Dr. Michael sonorously saying Me Too as he has done to date on major issues like Afghanistan. Tweddle Dee and Tweedle Dum.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , ,

50th Anniversary Hungarian Workers Revolt






The Hungarian Revolution of 1956

Home

2006 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising and Revolution of 1956. Following the savage repression of a demonstration on October 23 a general strike was declared, and directly democratic workers' councils sprung up across the country. In cities the workers armed themselves and fraternised with the troops, and managed to hold off Russian forces which invaded, but eventually the resistance was crushed by Soviet tanks.

It is not out of love for nostalgia that we are commemorating the uprising: Hungary '56 was a prime example of the working class itself reaching for power. Doubly significant, it took place in one of the mythical 'workers' states', where the Communist government claimed to represent the workers.

It showed for many, throughout the world, a new alternative to capitalism and Soviet "Communism" - read "state capitalism" - and it galvanised movements towards genuine revolutionary politics.

Below we reproduce the start of our history of the 1956 Revolution, and to the right are a selection of links to Hungary 56-related content on libcom.org.



The Hungarian revolt was preceded in 1953 by a General Strike and revolt in Eastern Germany. Like later revolts during the 1989 fall of the Soviet Union the first thing to be attacked in the Hungarian Revolution of 56 was the statue of Stalin in the main square.

And like other failed Eastern European revolts through out the sixties, seventies and eighties, the only successful one being the mass workers revolt in Poland that later became a CIA Vatican success. It was because all previous America Cold War propaganda campigns via the CIA and Radio Free America failed the revolts they encouraged, after publicly promising them arms and support.

Shades of Iraq. 1991 Kurdish Shia revolts promoted by Bush and Co. and then get slaughtered when no U.S. or allied support appears. Statue of Saddam is torn down in staged photo TV op by US tanks. Tanks roll into Baghdad and inssurection breaks out.

Now shades of Iran. As they encourage regime change, with no intentions of aiding such change. They have learned nothing since Hungary. Except to use unions as a forum to promote social democractic change in Irans Civil Society.

Missing the point that these unions are not interested in capitalist democracy or its state.

Real revolution is NOT about capitalist democracy and its parliamentary state it's about workers councils and mass worker revolt. Something Solidarity Poland understood and its leadership co-opted into a Nationalist Catholic movement to gain electoral power. That road has led nowhere.

The revolt in the Stalinst dominated East European countries of the Cold War, were the seeds of later revolts that led to the fall of the Stalinist State in Russia, but not of state capitalism.

And until there is a strong enough proletarian movement in the Middle East, then again narrow nationalism and parochial parliamentarism will be seen as the alternative to Imperialism.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, June 19, 2006

Alberta's Free Market In Labour


Since 2004 the Alberta Tories, the Party of Calgary has been partying in Calgary while the province booms. Can you say lame duck government, all round, the cabinet, the back benchers. All waiting for the ultimate lame duck; King Ralph to finally step down.

Until he does, and then and only then after the so called coronation errr leadership race of the Tories. So maybe next January or February or heck make it March, they may start paying attention again.

In the case of planning for expectant and predictable labour shortages this government has spent thirty years with its head in the sand.

EXCERPT:

The downside of boom: Alberta's manpower shortage
Andrew Nikiforuk
From the May 22-June 4, 2006 issue of Canadian Business magazine

Alberta's labour crisis, the product of an energy boom and a demonstrable deficit of government leadership, has now reached a tipping point. While many Calgary firms actively talk about importing temporary workers from China and Mexico, Todd Hirsch, chief economist at the Calgary-based Canada West Foundation, calls the situation "almost absurd." Just two years ago, he thought Alberta's labour shortage was confined to skilled professionals. Today, almost every business sector in the Edmonton-Calgary corridor, along with key oil-and-gas towns, including Grand Prairie and Fort McMurray, can't even find people to peel carrots for $14 an hour. The squeeze has not only driven up wages by 6.8% (more than twice the national average); it is also burning out employees, curtailing business expansion, driving up prices and encouraging rampant worker poaching. "Do we really want 8% to 9% GDP growth at the expense of infrastructure and the environment?" asks Hirsch. "We have to get real and say faster growth isn't better.

The oilsands have become a vortex sucking up workers. With nearly 50 megaprojects on the books, worth an estimated $75 billion, the population of Fort McMurray, Canada's fastest-growing frontier city, could swell from 56,000 to 80,000 people in the next five years. Yet the municipality is already struggling with a growing infrastructure deficit of $1.2 billion, overcrowded hospitals and schools, and a housing shortfall of 1,200 units. It also has the highest monthly rents in the nation, averaging $1,478 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. A 2006 consultant's report on 21 key indicators of the region's sustainability gloomily describes the affordability and availability of housing as "worsening."

As a consequence, many oilsands developers have gone to extreme measures to acquire workers. To kick-start its multibillion-dollar Horizon mining project, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. built its own private airstrip to fly in tradesmen. Given that the average price of a house in Fort McMurray has quadrupled from a modest $105,000 in 1995 to about $415,000 today, Canadian Natural Resources also briefly considered housing staff 1,127 kilometres away in Kimberley, B.C., and flying in workers for four-day shifts. And in a highly controversial move, the company, which might employ 3,000 construction workers for several years, is looking into importing temporary workers from the depleted oilfields of northeastern China. Some Calgary analysts have already suggested that the entire oilsands may be built by Chinese labour. (A spokesperson for CNRL said its executives couldn't "pull away the time to do an interview" for this story.)


The only free market in Alberta is labour. Rather than complaining about the use of temporary workers to bust unions and drive wages down, unions need to unionize the unorganized who now can bargain for higher wages. A generalized wobbly contract for each worker would show the bosses the real meaning of wage negotiations. As travelers and card carrying craft-trades unionists do as they travel across Canada.

A general contract could be created for each worker in Alberta, recongized by the labour movement as the living wage contract, thus assuring every worker in Alberta a share in the wealth they are creating. This would literaly push aside any form of minimum wage the State set. And that would be the ideal free market approach to bargaining with the bosses.

It is perfectly do-able by the labour movement in Alberta. Of course getting it done is another question. And as long as they are distracted by the threat of temporary workers they will not see the bigger opportunity that is before them.

Already young workers are wobblying the job in Calgary merely by the mere fact of a labour shortage their value has increased. But they value work less. Smart kids. They have struck the market at its heart. Not Bay St. but Main St.

Now who will take up the torch to organize this vast army of unorganized workers.

Prosperity's hidden toll

Two years ago, the labour crunch mainly involved skilled workers. Nurses, doctors, senior managers and welders were among the highly sought professionals who required some degree of training and education to warrant their demand.

Not anymore.

Today, the need for workers transcends all sectors, from the top to the bottom of the pay scale. It's causing no end of consternation for employers, as much for large companies as for small retailers and independents who can't afford to pay enough to keep sales clerks, dishwashers or cashiers on staff.

Help Wanted signs dot every corner of Calgary. Sure, it's a problem most cities would love to have, but one we can't afford to underestimate.

The Jobs Everywhere phenomenon is creating a curious scenario, especially in the McJob sector. The work ethic in this sector appears to be collapsing, particularly among 16- to 20-year-olds, says Todd Hirsch, a labour market-shortage expert for the Canada West Foundation.

"They don't think it's necessary to show up on time, or at all," says Hirsch. "They know they can walk across the mall and get another job, and maybe be paid more." Anecdotes abound as to how younger, part-time employees understand they're holding all the cards.

Recently, a local Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant was closed indefinitely because it couldn't find enough staff to operate, posting a sign on its door saying: "Due to unavailable staff, we are unable to open doors at this time."

With four or five job offers available to young people, the feeling is: "I don't really need to work that hard," says Hirsch.

He points to the catering industry, which experiences a slow season from January to March, when most low-skilled workers are usually laid off. Instead, they are being paid $10 to $12 an hour to do pretty much nothing but be around for the start of the high season in May.

If it sounds desperate, that's because it is.


Also See:

Labour Shortage



, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , ,

Saddam


I didn't know that the penalty for meglomania, stupidity and self delusion was death.

Iraqi prosecutors ask death sentence for Saddam

Must be the American influence in Iraq.

Of course whats good for Saddam should be good for the White House gang for their illegal war. The White House War Criminals


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Whose Priority?


Firearm Centre Abatement Minister Vic Towes was on QP today.

Tories confident that gun registry bill will pass

"The long-gun registry is by far and away the biggest issue in many ridings in Western Canada," Toews said.

Uh huh, oh really...could have fooled me. I thought the environment and health care were the top priorities. Vic Toews is lying again.


Of course the P3 failure which is the Federal Canadian Fire Arms Registry is an issue for Vic and the folks he talks to, cause thats all they talk about. He goes to carefully staged rallies, ala George W., with the political faithful. He admit that on QP this morning. Went to some rural BBQ's (can you say fundraiser?) and he was approached by folks whose main concern was the Long Gun Registry.

"We know that it is important to a lot of our constituents. What our constituents want us to do is make an honest attempt to repeal that legislation."
Really because polls show just the opposite:

Nearly half, or 49 per cent, of those surveyed said they want the government to maintain the hand gun and long-gun registries and put more money toward hiring police, while 45 per cent said they want the long-gun registry dismantled and greater funds put toward hiring more police officers.



Oh yeah and he is lying when he says this;

"I think people understand it has been an incredible waste of money, that it hasn't helped police forces"
Really someone should tell the police associations that. The Tories have selective hearing, sort of like Saddam Hussien, when it comes to the Firearms Registry. And crime in general. It's the contradicition of being the party of law and order. Civil libertarian issues are squashed unless they are embraced by the social conservatives like the issue of firearms. Of course as the party of law and order they can't take libertarian positions on marijuana, sex, same sex marriage, etc.

And of course arms sales by Canada makes it the fourth largest arms dealer in the world. Now that wouldn't happen to have anything to do with this would it?
Gun lobby trading favours with the feds?

Diemaco - Canada

Para-Ordnance Manufacturing Inc - Canada
Lessons From The North: Canada's Privatization Of Military Ammunition Production


And besides gunrunners who don't have to register themselves, well there is always those other rednecks who lobby against the Firearms Registry but put out bucks for hunting licenses.

Robert Pye, communications co-ordinator with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, said Wednesday’s announcement was a huge step for law-abiding gun owners. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had previously promised the federation he would repeal the registry. “They’re setting the table for legislations that going forward will ultimately kill the gun registry,” Pye said.

In the Orwellian speak of the Conservatives the Long Gun Registry is apparently not to be confused with the Federal Firearms Registry. Some how through the use of legislation the Tories will make a precision surgical removal of the long gun/shot gun portion of the registry while keeping all the rest and transfering it lock stock and barrel to the RCMP. Whose sense of sharing knowledge with other police departments is only out down by CSIS.

Along with lying Vic likes to besmirch Vancouver and B.C. as the criminal Sodom and Gommorah of Canada. Nothing better when you are making up facts then to point the finger somewhere else. And social conservatives know that Vancouver is a virtual Dante's Inferno of sinners and leftists.

The Fire Arms Registry legislation as well as legislation overturning Same Sex Marriage will be put forward in the fall. Only to go down in flames. Leaving political pundits to speculate on a snap fall election.

Oh joy not only do we suffer the stupidity of a Minority Government determined to follow through on its political PR; their five priorities (The Contract On Canada) including those which they know will fail. But they insist on acting like they are the majority in the House, arrogance shared by the previous government.





Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , ,,, , , , , , , , , ,