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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)
U.S. will miss an extended deadline to dispose of the country's chemical weapons stockpiles
Rumsfeld said he expects only two-thirds of the stockpile to be destroyed by April 2012. That date is a five-year extension from the previous deadline, set in a 1997 international treaty.
An activist group in Richmond, Kentucky, -- the Chemical Weapons Working Group -- says new schedules indicate disposal at sites in Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon, Colorado and Kentucky all will miss the deadline. A Maryland site has completed the disposal and Utah and Indiana remain on schedule.Why should we single out Iran?
'You know, it speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defense,' Batiste said. 'But when decisions are made without taking into account sound military recommendations, sound military decision making, sound planning, then we're bound to make mistakes.' Retired General Calls For Rumsfeld to Resign
Joining the criticism earlier this week was retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who served as an infantry division commander in Iraq until last November. He called for a "fresh start at the Pentagon," accusing Rumsfeld of ignoring sound military decision-making and seeking to intimidate those in uniform.
Earlier calls for Rumsfeld's replacement came from retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold and retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton. Analysis: Criticism mounts vs. Rumsfeld
Ninety percent of the Sri Lankan Tamils living in Canada entered the country as Refugees in fear of the atrocities of the state machinery.
Sri Lanka, once a role model for third world democracies, is now for the last 20 years, a scene of obdurate violence and war ( See Broken Palmyra, The Tamil Secessionist Movement in Sri Lanka (Ceylon):A Case of Secession by Default? , Sri Lanka:The Arrogance of Power: Myths, Decadence & Murder on this site). The long simmering ethnic crisis, which metamorphosed into a full-scale war, has now gone through several phases. From 1956, the Tamil community was at the receiving end of several bouts of ethnically motivated violence that had the connivance of the State. This compounded the increasingly blatant discriminatory policies of the Sri Lankan State. Ethnicisation of the political landscape has resulted in a polarization that now appears difficult to disentangle.
The intransigence and opportunism of the Sinhalese polity in its turn gave boost to an insensitive Tamil nationalist politics that was high on rhetoric. The chauvinist camp among the Sinhalese capitalized on this, playing on the fears of the Sinhalese. Though a majority in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese are in relation to the Tamils a minority in the region. Both communities had launched into a confrontational political course and for both internal and external reasons, the rights of the Tamils and their quality of life suffered progressive degradation.
The armed struggle of Tamil youth to achieve a separate state, which commenced in the 1970s, attracted an unprecedented number of Tamil youth to its banner following the government sponsored pogrom of July 1983 which left about 2000 Tamils dead. India, fearing the Sri Lankan government's canvassing of Western military assistance, provided arms and training to the Tamil militants. Various militant formations sprang up. The internal and internecine killings by the militant groups, introduced a new horrifying dynamism that altogether changed the character of the struggle.
In July 1983 President Jayawardene of Sri Lanka and his government were implicated in the worst bout of communal violence against the Tamils,which was followed by India covertly backing the Tamil militancy. Arbitrary violence by the almost exclusively Sinhalese government forces led to a mounting toll of massacres and disappearances of Tamil civilians running into the thousands2. As a means of territorially marginalising the Tamils, the government also took the first steps towards militarily-imposed settlements of marginalised Sinhalese in predominantly Tamil areas,such as Manal Aru (Weli Oya), along the lines of the trans-migration policies of the militarised regime in Indonesia3. The regime in Colombo enjoyed very little sympathy abroad and large sections of the Sinhalese watched with alarm as democratic freedoms were trodden under and the country plunged headlong into militarisation of its polity. By 1985 the legitimacy of the Tamil separatist cause stood at its peak. The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR(J))
One day after tabling landmark legislation to "clean up" Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has found a new job for an old friend. Former B.C. Conservative MP Jim Gouk has been appointed to fill one of the three government positions on the board of Nav Canada, the private corporation that runs Canada's civil air navigation service. But officials from the office of Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon insist he was nominated because of his qualifications and expertise as a former pilot and air traffic controller. PM's friend lands air-control post
How efficient is the Alberta apprenticeship system?Business and government have it all wrong on labour shortageThe public school system in Alberta views a 25% failure to complete rate a disgrace at the high school level. By contrast, over half (57.3%) of all apprentices in Alberta fail to complete their apprenticeship within the optimum program time. Even after eleven years, the failure to complete rate is over 40%.
The Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry training Board claims that 75% of apprentices complete their training - however, the Board does not include apprentices who fail to complete their first year in their calculations. That is like a high school not counting anyone who fails to finish grade 10 in their overall failure rate.
Do employers fully support the apprenticeship program?
Only 18 % of Canadian employers take on and train young apprentices - although 41 % of all employers had the capacity to do so - according to a recently released joint study by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum and Skills Canada.
And the heat is on to adopt what he calls “radical solutions” – which is a codeword for massive importation of foreign workers.
Yesterday, the rumours came true when Canadian Natural Resource Development Ltd. vice president Lynn Zeidler confirmed that the contract to build the $30-billion Horizon project’s massive tank farm has been awarded to a Chinese company. Soon 250 guest workers from China will be on site north of Fort McMurray.
“Compared to the 6,000-man job we’re running,” Zeidler said, “it’s not a very big contract.
“These workers, like every other worker on site, will be paid competitive wages and housed in union-approved camps,” she added.
The Chinese government-owned company won the tendered contract fair and square, she insisted.
While Business of course which has failed to meet the needs of the labour market sing the same old song; gimme more tax breaks, deregulate the market.