Molly'sBlog

2012-01-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

ANARCHIST THEORY:

DIFFERENT SORTS OF FREEDOM:

My dear mother, God rest her soul, used to regale me with stories of the most stupid family in the patch of geography where she grew up. She was born near Simferopal Crimea and grew up in northwest Saskatchewan where you could go 200 miles to anything that resembled a city. From my point of view a great place to grow up but also a great place to leave at the time of puberty. I was blessed.

Anyways, amongst the tales of the "stupid family" shooting their horses while duck hunting and also shooting themselves in the foot (accidentally believe it or not) there were truly magnificent tales of low brain function. The family usually managed to live just long enough to contaminate the next generation with their genes despite classic acts of idiocy like using a match to see if a gas tank was full (yeah it really happened).

I can remember my own examples of stupidity from the 'Battey' family when I grew up in south central Saskatchewan. Fuck were this clan pests, driving their cattle through the town and refusing to feed their kids rights. There was also their dog "Nipper" who was the meanest dog in the RM. If old man Batty didn't feed his family even on the rare occasions that he was sober you can understand the attitude of the semi-wolf Nipper who mostly lived on what he could kill. One of the kids of this overly productive (in a generative sense), Dale Battey, used to bring the dog to town to bite other kids. Amusement is hard to find in rural Saskatchewan.

Being a kind hearted little kid I took to stealing (or saving) meat from my family to feed to the dog. I'd rather be a little bit hungry than see the dog starve. He sometimes wandered into town without his owners. The dog and I became great friends. One day Battey brought Nipper into town to bite me. Stupid move, speaking of stupidity. Sic em he said while pointing to the only person in the world who had ever shown the dog the tiniest piece of kindness. You could practically see the sparks flying off the dog's head as he weighed his pack loyalty to the animal who feeds him against his fear of his so-called owners. He did nothing and evil Dale booted his ass back all the way to home.

There was a conclusion to this example of stupidity. I owned two cats when I was growing up, Midnight and Bumpy. They were particularly bizarre examples of feline behavior (or rather instructive examples0 as Bumpy kept nursing off her mother Midnight even when she had kittens herself who were nursing off her. Quite normal behavior amongst Felis domesticus actually as is the formation of cooperative groups amongst related cats. Here's to inclusive fitness.

In any case the cats were a team. After his dog refused to bite me Dale Battey was really pissed off, and he figured he could get his revenge by bringing his semi-wolf to town to fight my cats. At that time my cats had a rep. They'd beat any dog in the RM. The older one Midnight would distract the dog by slowly surrendering space while lashing out at his face and making noise big time. At the same time Bumpy would silently sneak up beside the dog, leap on his back and skitter up to the head where she could bite at his throat. It would usually ended with the dog screaming across a field as one cat rode him and chewed on his neck while the other lashed out at his asshole.

Well Battey brought his dog to town, and the cats knew when they were outmatched (the fucker couldn't feel pain in a kill frenzy). One quick look and they did what they had never done before. They ran. They ran up to Battey who was standing by the low back "porch" (kitchen actually) of our house, ran up his body leaving bloody scratch marks behind. They turned around and spit fury at the dog from a safe perch while Battey stood there stunned with blood dripping down his body.. Probably telling him they'd get him by surprise. The poor dog continued to run back and forth frantically barking all the time. By the time my brother and I got up off the ground from where we had been rolling over and over with laughing evil Battey was already booting the dog back to the Battey farm (so-called).

OK, all that being said and indeed it was a lot to be said I prefaced this with the extensive personal story so that the reader cannot imagine that I am unacquainted with "stupidity". In the actual real sense where there are immediate consequences. The trouble with 'political stupidity' is that them punishment for the idiocy is not immediate, and thus its ability to teach is severely reduced.

Recently I have received a "reply" that says I should consider a "general tax cut" as more consistent with libertarianISM than my libertarian socialist view. I cannot agree with that, and, of course, here in Canada we can argue out what "libertarian" means. The stupidity in this debate is the ignorance about what "libertarian" means to the 95% of the world's population who live outside of the USA. The stupidity here is in the arrogant assumption that ones views translate across the world.

2012-01-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN LABOUR:

SOLIDARITY WITH TORONTO CIVIC WORKERS:

The following appeal for solidarity with civic workers in Toronto Ontario is from the Toronto based Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

***********************

Don't be a STRIKEBREAKER for Rob Ford!‏
Sent: January-27-12 5:46:26 PM

~A Message from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty~
Rob Ford and his friends on City Council are out to wipe out public services in this City and to attack the workers who deliver those services. Thousands of members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees face the threat of being locked out by the City. (This means the City would refuse to bargain for a fair contract but would instead lock the workers out from their jobs with no pay).

OCAP is an organization that works among poor communities under attack and we know what side we are on in this fight. Ford wants to sell off many services to private corporations and then cut what is left to an absolute minimum. The workers who deliver those services will not have decent wages or working conditions, if he gets his way. The City will become, instead,a low wage, sweat shop employer. This would be a huge defeat that would drive down wages all across the City and beyond and it must not be allowed to happen.

--If the City workers find themselves defending their jobs in the next short while, Ford will not hesitate to run a strikebreaking operation against them. Knowing lots of people are hurting in these tough times, he will try to recruit desperate people to cross picket lines and help him win his war against working people. Don`t fall for this and don`t play the shameful role of being a scab for Ford.

If the City workers are forced into this fight, OCAP will stand in solidarity with them. The way to fight poverty is to defend decent paying jobs and fight to raise the level of those who are presently being denied this basic right. We intend to help the City workers win, to stop all of Ford`s brutal cutbacks and to rally communities under attack to defeat him and all he stands for. Don’t cross the City workers`picket lines – join them!
http://ocap.ca/node/983
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)(416) 925-6939 ocap@tao.ca

2012-01-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

TODAY IN HISTORY:

CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY JOSE MARTI BORN:

On this day in 1853 Cuban revolutionary José Marti was born. An early advocate of both independence from Spain and resistance to the imperialist designs of the USA, Marti advocated a socialism that while still statist was considerably more libertarian than what "socialism" generally stood for in the 20th century and especially more libertarian than the present dictatorship in Cuba.

Notification from the anarcvhist timeline The Daily Bleed (which gets a serious Molly endorsement).

2012-01-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

MOTIVATION ?:

2012-01-26T17:49:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN LABOUR QUÉBEC:

RIO TINTO LOCKOUT SOON TO ENTER SECOND MONTH:

In the town of Alma Québec the lockout of employees of Alcan will soon be into its second month. 780 members of the United Steel Workers have been locked out since January 1. Management`s demand...simple "destroy the union"; all new workers hired from this point on are to be "subcontractors" rather than permanent employees. Here's the story from the International Metalworkers Federation.

**************************
Canadian Rio Tinto lockout nears one month
On January 1, 2012, Rio Tinto’s aluminium subsidiary Alcan locked out 780 members of United Steelworkers at its smelter and refinery in Alma, Québec. The company refuses to negotiate limits on contract work.

CANADA: The company wants to have unlimited contracting out rights, and has replaced full-time, USW-represented workers with subcontracting employees, at considerably worse conditions, when they retire. Subcontracted work in the company is expected to increase from 10 per cent in 2010 to 27 per cent in 2012. The USW wants to create a floor of 750 permanent jobs at the Alma site.

Use of scab or replacement workers during a labour dispute is forbidden in Québec law. According to the company the site is now run at one third of capacity with the help of 200 "management" personnel. USW has lodged a complaint with the provincial labour board.

The IMF and ICEM have sent a strong protest to Rio Tinto's CEO Tom Albanese; "It is unprecedented in North America for a company to demand that a trade union accept the replacement of all permanent positions when workers retire with contract employees."

Affiliates are urged to also send letters to Albanese (with copies to IMF, ICEM and USW), making their opinions clear. See a model letter here.

Letters can be faxed to the Rio Tinto offices in London (+44 20 7781 1800) and Melbourne (+62 3 9283 3707), with copies to IMF, ICEM and USW.

See a detailed background to the dispute here.

Contacts:

Clairandrée Cauchy, Syndicat des Métallos /USW Communications, 514-774-4001, ccauchy@usw.ca ;
Joe Drexler, Syndicat des Métallos/USW Strategic Campaigns, 416-544 6009, 416-434 7907, jdrexler@usw.ca .

************************
Lock-out depuis près d’un mois chez Rio Tinto au Canada
Le 1er janvier 2012, la filiale de l’aluminium de Rio Tinto, Alcan, a lock-outé 780 membres du syndicat United Steelworkers dans ses installations de fonderie et d’affinerie situées à Alma, Québec. L’entreprise refuse de négocier des limitations au travail sous contrat.

CANADA: L'entreprise veut disposer du droit de sous-traiter sans restrictions le travail, et a remplacé du personnel employé à temps plein et représenté par l'USW, par du personnel en sous-traitance dans des conditions bien plus mauvaises, au moment du départ à la retraite. Le travail en sous-traitance dans l'entreprise devrait augmenter et passer de 10 pour cent en 2010 à 27 pour cent in 2012. L'USW veut créer un socle de 750 emplois permanents sur le site d'Alma.

La législation du travail interdit au Québec d'embaucher des jaunes ou du personnel de remplacement lors d'un conflit du travail. Selon l'entreprise, le site fonctionne au tiers de sa capacité avec l'aide de 200 personnes assurant la "gestion". L'USW a présenté une plainte au conseil provincial du travail.

La FIOM et l'ICEM ont adressé une ferme protestation à Tom Albanese, directeur général de Rio Tinto: "C'est un fait sans précédent en Amérique du Nord qu'une entreprise demande à un syndicat d'accepter le remplacement de tous les postes permanents par des contractuels quand les travailleurs et travailleuses prennent leur retraite".

Les affiliés sont invités à envoyer des lettres à Albanese (avec copies à la FIOM, à l'ICEM et à l'USW), en faisant clairement état de leur opinion.
Les lettres peuvent être envoyées par télécopie aux bureaux de Rio Tinto à Londres (+44 20 7781 1800) et à Melbourne (+62 3 9283 3707), avec copies à la FIOM, à l'ICEM et à l'USW.

Pour un historique détaillé du conflit, cliquer ici.

Contacts:

Clairandrée Cauchy, Syndicat des Métallos/Communications de l'USW, 514-774-4001, ccauchy@usw.ca ;
Joe Drexler, Syndicat des Métallos/Campagnes stratégiques de l'USW, 416-544 6009, 416-434 7907, jdrexler@usw.ca .

2012-01-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

ALL THE POLITICIAN THAT MONEY CAN BUY:

2012-01-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

MUCH ADO ABOUT...

2012-01-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
MONTRÉAL ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR CALLOUT
....................

The ever popular Montréal Anarchist Bookfair will be coming up on May 19 1nd 20 this year. This is the biggest and possibly the best anarchist gathering in North America, and if you can travel at all this is one event to attend. Here`s the callout for participants (la version français suive au-dessous)
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Callout for proposals:
en français ici: http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/
[Callout for proposals (deadline March 1/April 1, 2012): http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/callout-for-proposals or read below]
[Support the Bookfair: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/support-the-bookfair or read below]
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Mark your calendars …
MONTREAL ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR 2012
Two days: Saturday, May 19 & Sunday, May 20
10am-5pm on both days
The Anarchist Bookfair will take place in two buildings across from each other in Parc Vinet:
- Centre d'éducation populaire de la Petite-Bourgogne et de St-Henri (CEDA), 2515 rue Delisle
- Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier (CCGV), 2450 rue Workman
A short walk from Lionel-Groulx metro.

No gods, no masters, no bosses, no borders.
FREE. Welcome to all!
For anarchists, and people curious about anarchism.

-> Participants from all over Quebec and North America, booksellers and vendors, workshops, films, discussions, kids activities, art exhibits and more!
-> Part of the month-long Festival of Anarchy held throughout May 2012 at venues and locations all over the island of Montreal.
-> Tabling will take place over two days: May 19-20, between 10am-5pm.
-> NOTE: This year, tabling will take place in the main auditoriums of both our locations: CEDA and the Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier (CCGV).
-> Accessibility Policy and Commitment: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/about/accessibility
-> What Happens at the Anarchist Bookfair?: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/about/what-happens-at-the-bookfair

-> Support the Bookfair: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/support-the-bookfair or read below.
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CALLOUT FOR PROPOSALS:
Workshops, Tables, Art Exhibits, Films, Festival of Anarchy Events

a) Workshop Proposals

We encourage your workshop proposals for both days of this year’s Bookfair (May 19 or 20, 2012). You can submit workshops that are: i) introductions to anarchism or ii) workshops on other topics related to anarchism that explores an anarchism-themed topic in some depth.

--> For full information about making a workshop proposal, visit: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/callout-for-proposals/workshopproposals <-- The deadline for all workshop proposals is March 1, 2012.

b) Tabling at the Bookfair The heart of the Bookfair includes booksellers, distributors, independent presses and political groups from all over Montreal, Quebec, North America, and abroad. There will be Bookfair tabling on TWO days – Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20, 2011, from 10am to 5pm. This year, tabling will take place in TWO spaces that are located across from each other: the Centre d’éducation populaire de la Petite-Bourgogne et de St-Henri (CEDA) at 2515 rue Delisle, and the Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier (CCGV) at 2450 rue Workman.

--> For full information about requesting table space, visit: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/callout-for-proposals/tablerequest <--

The deadline to request table space is April 1, 2012.

c) Art Exhibits
Art & Anarchy brings together the creations of dozens of anarchist-inspired artists and organizers. In previous years, exhibitions have included sculptures, paintings, posters, banners, drawings, and other multi-media forms. Art & Anarchy is displayed over the two days of the Montreal Anarchst Bookfair.

--> For full information about making a art proposal, visit: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/callout-for-proposals/artproposals <--

The deadline to make an Art & Anarchy submission is March 1, 2012.

d) Films
The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair hosts a Film Room, showing films related to anarchism or anarchist-supported struggles.

--> For full information about making a film proposal, visit: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/callout-for-proposals/filmproposals
The deadline to make a film proposal is March 1, 2012.

e) Festival of Anarchy Events
The entire month of May comprises the Festival of Anarchy, with diverse anarchist-themed events occurring at different venues in Montreal. The Bookfair collective compiles a Festival of Anarchy calendar, but we count on you to organize the actual Festival of Anarchy events. Get in touch to reserve a date for your event in May (calendar dates are “first come first served”).
For full information about reserving a date for the Festival of Anarchy calendar, visit: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/callout-for-proposals/festivalproposal
The deadline to submit Festival of Anarchy events, to be included in our public calendar, is April 1, 2012.
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SUPPORT THE BOOKFAIR
a) Promote our Callout for Proposals
The Bookfair is currently seeking proposals for workshops, tables, art, film and Festival of Anarchy events. The callout for proposals is linked on our website here: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/callout-for-proposals

Please promote this callout widely to anyone who might want to participate in this year's Anarchist Bookfair. The deadline for proposals is March 1st (for workshops, art and film) and April 1st (for tables and Festival of Anarchy events).

b) Advertising in your publication
Do you publish a magazine, newspaper, journal or other publication? Will you be publishing before May 1, 2012? If so, please consider running an announcement for the upcoming Montreal Anarchist Bookfair. We can send you an ad specific to your publication. The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair is organized on a very modest budget by an all-volunteer collective, so we cannot pay you for ads. But we can link to your publication from our website as a form of mutual support. Please get in touch with us at info@salonanarchiste.ca if you are able to offer ad space in your publication.

c) Web Links
If you maintain a website, please consider linking to our website. We're at http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/ (in English) and http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/ (in French).

d) Facebook promotion
The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair has a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SalonduLivreAnarchisteMontrealAnarchistBookfair As well, we have created a facebook event for next year's Bookfair: https://www.facebook.com/events/113251495449843 / If you're on facebook, please promote these fb links on your wall, and by inviting your friends.

e) Twitter
Finally, if you're on twitter, consider following us, and promoting our feed. We're at: http://twitter.com/BookfairAnarMTL

f) Postering/Flyering in Montréal
If you can help promote the Bookfair and Festival of Anarchy in your neighborhood, school or community, please get in touch: info@salonanarchiste.ca We will be actively promoting the 2012 Bookfair all over the Montreal-area. Let us know if you can help with postering or flyering. If you are from outside Montreal, get in touch if you would like us to send you posters and pamphlets. We are also hoping to have these materials available for download on our website soon.

Thanks for considering these requests. - The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair Collective
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CONTACT INFORMATION
e-mail: info@anarchistbookfair.ca
tél: 514-679-5800
mail: Salon du livre Anarchiste de Montréal
1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, Suite 204
Montréal, Québec H3G 1N1

FOR UPDATES:
-> web: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/
-> announcements list: https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/salon-annonces

You can also join our facebook page or follow us on twitter:
-> facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SalonduLivreAnarchisteMontrealAnarchistBookfair
-> twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BookfairAnarMTL
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Appel à contributions: ateliers/films/oeuvres d'art (date limite: 1er mars 2012)
Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal‏
[Svp diffuser LARGEMENT] [English info here: www.anarchistbookfair.ca ]

[Appel à contributions (date limite: 1er mars/1er avril 2012): http://www.salonanarchiste.ca /appel-a-contributions ou ci-dessous ]
[Soutien pour le Salon du livre anarchiste: http://www.salonanarchiste.ca /soutien-pour-le-salon ou ci-dessous]
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Préparez vos calendriers…
LE SALON DU LIVRE ANARCHISTE DE MONTRÉAL 2012
deux journées : samedi le 19 mai & dimanche le 20 mai
de 10h à 17h les deux jours
Le Salon du livre anarchiste se tiendra dans deux bâtiments situés l’un en face de l’autre autour du Parc Vinet:
- Au Centre d’éducation populaire de la Petite-Bourgogne et de St-Henri (CEDA), 2515 rue Delisle
- Au Centre culturel Georges-Vanier (CCGV), 2450 rue Workman
C’est à une courte distance de marche du métro Lionel-Groulx.

Ni dieu, ni maître; ni patron, ni frontière.
GRATUIT. Bienvenue à tous et toutes.
Pour les anarchistes et pour les personnes curieuses de l’anarchisme.

-> Des participants venant de partout au Québec et en Amérique du Nord : des libraires, éditeurs, ateliers, films, discussions, activités pour enfants, expositions d’arts et plus!
-> Dans le cadre du Festival de l’Anarchie se déroulant tout le long du mois de mai 2012 et offrant des activités dans différents lieux de Montréal.
-> Lors du Salon du livre de cette année, les tables d’exposition prendront place sur deux jours : le 19 et le 20 mai, entre 10h et 17h.
-> ATTENTION : Cette année, les tables seront placées dans les auditoriums principaux des deux bâtiments : au CEDA et au Centre culturel Georges-Vanier (CCGV).
-> Enoncé d’accessibilité: http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/presentation/accessibilite
-> Qu’est-ce qui se passe au Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal?: http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/presentation/quest-ce-qui-se-passe-au-salon-du-livre-anarchiste-de-montreal
-> Soutien pour le Salon du livre anarchiste: http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/soutien-pour-le-salon
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APPEL À CONTRIBUTIONS:
ateliers, tables d'expositions, oeuvres d'art, films, Festival de l’anarchie

a) Ateliers

Nous vous encourageons à proposer des ateliers pour les deux jours du Salon du livre de cette année (le 19 et le 20 mai 2012). Vous pouvez proposer des ateliers qui sont: i) des introductions à l’anarchisme ou ii) des ateliers sur d’autres sujets liés à l’anarchisme qui explorent plus en profondeur une dimension de l’anarchisme.

-> S’il-vous-plaît consultez le lien suivant pour plus de détails sur les propositions d’ateliers, dont les directives: http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/appel-a-contributions/ateliersappel
-> La date limite pour toutes les propositions d’ateliers est le 1er mars 2012.

b) Kiosques

Le coeur du Salon du livre incluse des libraires, distributeurs et distributrices, presses indépendantes et groupes politiques venant des quatre coins de Montréal, du Québec, de l’Amérique du Nord et de l’étranger. Il y aura des tables au Salon du livre pendant DEUX JOURS – samedi le 19 mai et dimanche le 20 mai 2011, de 10h à 17h. Cette année, les kiosques auront lieu dans DEUX différents endroits qui sont situés de l’un en face de l’autre : au Centre d’éducation populaire de la Petite-Bourgogne et de St-Henri (CEDA) au 2515 rue Delisle ainsi qu’au Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier (CCGV) au 2450 rue Workman.
-> S’il-vous-plaît consultez le lien suivant pour plus de détails sur les propositions de tables d’expositions : http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/appel-a-contributions/demandekiosques
- > La date limite pour la réception des propositions de tables est le 1er avril 2012.

c) Oeuvres d'art
Art & Anarchie réunit les créations de douzaines d’organisateurs et d’organisatrices et d’artistes inspirées par l’anarchisme. Au cours des années précédentes, les expositions ont présenté des sculptures, peintures, affiches, bannières, dessins ainsi que d’autres formes d’art multimédia.
-> S’il-vous-plaît consultez le lien suivant pour plus de détails sur les propositions d’oeuvres d’art : http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/appel-a-contributions/artpropositions
->La date limite pour les propositions pour l’exposition artistique est le 1er mars 2012.

d) Films
Le Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal présente une salle de cinéma, où sont diffusés des films liés à l’anarchisme ou à des luttes appuyées par les mouvements anarchistes. --> S’il-vous-plaît consultez le lien suivant pour plus de détails sur les propositions de films : http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/appel-a-contributions/proposition-de-films
-> La date limite pour les propositions de films est le 1er mars 2012.

e) Festival de l'anarchie
Le mois de mai en entier est consacré au Festival de l’Anarchie, un festival présentant différents événements à thématique anarchiste se produisant dans différents lieux de Montréal. Le Collectif du Salon du livre fait la compilation d’un calendrier du Festival de l’Anarchie, mais nous comptons sur vous pour organiser véritablement les événements du Festival de l’Anarchie. Contactez-nous pour réserver une date pour votre événement se tenant au mois de mai (les dates du calendrier sont réparties au « premier arrivé, premier servi »).
-> S’il-vous-plaît consultez le lien suivant pour plus de détails : http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/appel-a-contributions/festivalpropositions
-> La date limite pour soumettre un événement pour le Festival et pour être inclut dans le calendrier qui sera diffusé est le 1er avril 2012
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SOUTIEN POUR LE SALON DU LIVRE ANARCHISTE
a) Promotion de notre Appel à Contributions
Nous vous invitons à publier et promovoir notre Appel à contributions (ateliers, kiosques, exposition d'art, film, Festival de l'anarchie): http://www.salonanarchiste.ca/appel-a-contributions
La date limite pour la réception des propositions est le 1er mars 2012 (pour les ateliers, exposition d'art et film) et le 1er avril 2012 (pour les tables et le Festival d'anarchie).

b) Annoncez dans votre publication
Publiez-vous un magazine, un journal, une revue ou une autre publication? Aurez-vous un numéro d'ici au 1er mai 2012?
Si oui, nous vous invitons à publier une annonce pour le prochain Salon du livre anarchiste. Nous pouvons vous envoyer une annonce spécifiquement pour votre publication. Le Salon du livre anarchiste dispose d'un très mince budget et est organisé par un colllectif composé entièrement de bénévoles. Nous ne pouvons donc pas payer pour une publicité. Dans un esprit d'aide mutuelle, nous pouvons cependant mettre un lien vers votre publication sur notre site web.
Veuillez nous écrire à info@salonanarchiste.ca si vous êtes en mesure d'ajouter une de nos annonces dans votre publication.

c) Liens web
Si vous avez un site web, nous vous invitons à mettre un lien avec le notre. Notre site est www.salonanarchiste.ca (en français) et www.anarchistbookfair.ca (en anglais).

d) Promotion par facebook
Le Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal a un page facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SalonduLivreAnarchisteMontrealAnarchistBookfair
Nous avons aussi créé un événement facebook pour le prochain Salon du livre: https://www.facebook.com/events/113251495449843
Si vous êtes sur facebook, nous vous invitons à faire la promotion de ces liens facebook sur votre mur ainsi qu'en invitant vos amies.

e) Twitter
Si vous êtes aussi sur twitter, nous vous invitons à faire la promotion de notre feed: http://twitter.com/BookfairAnarMTL

f) Affichage/Tractage
Si vous souhaitez contribuer à la promotion du Salon du livre anarchiste et/ou du Festival de l'Anarchie dans votre quartier, votre école ou votre communauté, communiquez avec nous (info@salonanarchiste.ca ). Nous ferons la promotion du Salon du livre anarchiste dans la région de Montréal. Avertissez-nous si vous pouver faire de l'affichage et du tractage. Si vous résidez à l'extérieur de Montréal, communiquez avec nous si vous désirez recevoir des affiches, prospectus et dépliants. Le matériel de promotion sera aussi disponible pour téléchargement sur notre site Internet.
Merci de nous appuyer!
- Le collectif du Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal
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POUR INFORMATION
-> Courriel : info@salonanarchiste.ca
-> Tél : 514-679-5800
-> Poste: Salon du livre Anarchiste de Montréal
1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, Suite 204
Montréal, Québec H3G 1N1

POUR DES MISES- À-JOUR:
-> web www.salonanarchiste.ca
-> liste d’envoi: https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/salon-annonces

Vous pouvez aussi vous joindre à notre page facebook ou nous suivre sur twitter:
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2012-01-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

TO ALL MY ENEMIES:

2012-01-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

HARD TIMES REPUBLICAN STYLE:

2012-01-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

WITHOUT STRUGGLE THERE IS NO VICTORY:

2012-01-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN LABOUR LONDON ONTARIO:

COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR LOCKED OUT CATERPILLAR WORKERS:

Time ticks on until this Saturday's mass demonstration in solidarity with workers at the Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London Ontario. While this is being planned the local community in London Ontario is rallying behind the workers affected who are supposed to have their wages cut by 50% as per the company's offer. There has been much discussion about the culpability of the federal government in allowing a foreign purchase of this enterprise insofar as it was "in the interests of Canada". Obviously it is not, and the federal government still refuses to release documentation regarding its decision.

All this is neither here nor there aside from establishing the fact that our government was privy to an agreement that included the possible relocation of a plant to a non-union area in the USA. Were they privy to corporate plans ? Who knows. All that can be said is that the ideology of our present government sees the interests of ordinary Canadians as worthless and merely an obstacle to be overcome.

In any case here is an article from the "Londoner", a local newspaper in London Ontario, about the community support for the Electro-Motive Diesel workers in London Ontario. Let's see what happens as Ontario labour gathers there this weekend.
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Community supportive of locked out workers

Workers at London’s Electro-Motive Diesel plant have been shut out since January 1. Unwilling to accept a 50 per cent wage cut, they’re uncertain of their future as London City Council asks the provincial and federal governments to get involved.

Albrechtas is retired, but he had a good reason to be standing out on the picket lines on Oxford Street one grey, unseasonably warm day last week.

"I got three generations working here," he said, standing outside London's Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. "I've got my son working here and my grandson working here. They're both locked out. I'm retired (from the plant) now for 10 years under General Motors, but I'm here to support them."

And he wasn't the only one who came out to stand alongside the workers, locked out since January 1 after they rejected a blunt offer for a roughly 50 per cent wage cut from the Caterpillar-owned company.

"I want to support the people working here on the picket line," said retired educator Lynne Shantz. "They have a legitimate right to their workplace and the wages they've been making. I think the company did not intend to negotiate in good faith by coming in with a hardball offer like they did. It's pretty ridiculous."

Shantz said she'd like to see more Londoners come out to support the workers and said people should realize the fight going down at the plant could affect far more people than the workers in question.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg because along the line if people see that they can get away with this type of ridiculous offer ... then they'll be doing this again and again and again," she said. "This impacts people who are non-union as well and everybody is going to suffer."

Workers themselves are already feeling the pinch. With strike pay of $200 per week, most can just get by for now. But for some, that cash might be insufficient sooner rather than later

Take for example Vince Gugliotta and Sarah Smith. The couple — both locked out workers at Electro-Motive — are currently supporting four kids aged seven to 11 months old. Already they're watching the dollars and cents, keenly aware that they may soon be cutting into savings.

"(We're) eating in, shopping frugal, buying things only if it's an absolute necessity," Smith said. "We're just fresh into the lockout so we're not feeling the big impact right now. But a couple weeks from now, a couple months, we're definitely going to be feeling it."

She added that for their family, the prospect of going from $32 per hour in pay to roughly half that is simply untenable.

Out on the picket line, Chris Kwiatkowski agreed. Having worked at Electro-Motive for nearly 24 years, the last time he saw wages that low was when he just started at the plant.

"I started in 1988. It was just about 16 bucks an hour then," he said. "It's scary. I'm hoping (a deal) comes through. I like my job."

He added he's hopeful city council's recent unanimous vote of support for the workers will draw further help from Ottawa and the province, which have so far been tepid in their desire to get involved in the lockout.

"Right now they (the politicians) are about the only people that can save us I think," Kwiatkowski said.

Albrechtas agreed.

"I hope the government steps in soon," he said. "It's getting bad."

A representative at Electro-Motive said there was no one who could talk about the lockout situation.

Organized labour movements in Ontario have promised a day of action to show support for the locked out workers at Electro-Motive on January 21. According to a Canadian Auto Workers release, thousands of supporters are expected to converge on London to show solidarity with the workers in what has become a flashpoint for the labour movement in Canada.

josh.freeman@sunmedia.ca

2012-01-18T22:55:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

INTERNET CENSORSHIP USA

2012-01-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

VISIONS:

THE PRODUCER CO-OP OPTION:

There are basically two types of cooperatives, consumer and producer. The former is a mutual aid society of purchasers banded together to get the best possible value for their dollar by cutting out the capitalist middleman. By banding together the members of such co-ops not only avoid value draining intermediaries but also get the advantage of size and bulk purchasing power, something beyond the capacity of singular households. The most visible consumer co-ops in Canada are the gasoline co-ops active in most provinces, but this option is hardly restricted to the automobile. There are such things as food co-ops, hardware co-ops, health care co-ops and even "funeral co-ops" across the country. Our credit unions are essentially consumer co-ops, and the recent spate of financial crises has demonstrated at least one way in which such local, member controlled, institutions are better and more stable than the banks.

Cooperation, however, is not restricted to consumption. Across the world people are setting up producer co-ops, also known as worker co-ops. In this case the members are the workers of a business who own and control their workplace. In a Canadian context a good source of information about this matter is the website of the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation. In many ways this enterprise model is a living example of a model of what anarcho-syndicalists have advocated for over a century. That is that a workplace should be the property of and be controlled by those who work in said location. What is different from the traditional view of the syndicalists is that worker co-ops that are set up today have to operate within a market economy. This goes against the grain of the traditional syndicalist view which is anti-market. How to reconcile these two viewpoints is a discussion for another time.

What is important here is to note that the worker/producer cooperative model of business has been gaining more and more attraction and implementation in the last few decades. Many studies have demonstrated that worker co-ops are more efficient than a traditional business model where management either bullies, bribes or bullshits workers to produce more more efficiently. In a producers' co-op the workers are the owners and direct beneficiaries of the success of the business. They have a natural incentive to be both more efficient and more productive.

The existence of this option which is actually a real and immediate way of freeing oneself from authority has always been a matter of debate in libertarian socialist circles. What is interesting is just how attractive this model has become outside of the anarchist ghetto. Here, for example, is a recent article from the Vancouver Province about the co-op option.

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Consider worker co-operatives
By Benjamin Gillies

As Canadians got back to the old grind last week, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives had a rather intriguing statistic for them.

By mid-afternoon on that day, our country's top 100 CEOs had already made over $44,300, what it takes the average citizen an entire year to earn.

In fact, the policy centre notes, these elite men and women took home an average $8.4 million in 2010, 189 times more than our mean national income.

Dialogue over this type of economic disparity has been ongoing for thousands of years - from Plato, who believed the income of the highest paid in a society should never be more than five times that of the lowest paid, to last year's Occupy movement.

Most recently, the major proposal for curbing inequality among many progressive politicians is for the government to raise taxes on wealthy citizens and corporations.

Those on the right of the political spectrum vehemently oppose such an approach, however, arguing that to bur-den the companies we look to for job creation is a short-sighted strategy that can only leave us worse off as businesses head to lower-tax jurisdictions.

Undoubtedly, conservatives have a point that we rely on companies to generate employment. Yet, they overlook the fact that while corporations do provide jobs for Canadians, this is not actually their main objective. Their goal is profit maximization, and stockholders can even sue managers for making decisions that hurt the bottom line.

Directors are therefore forced to do whatever is necessary to increase returns, even when their actions are detrimental to workers. Over the past 30 years, for example, executives have used the threat of outsourcing to squeeze major concessions out of employees.

Improving the financial position of the majority will always remain problematic when we acquiesce to the need for profit above all else. It is time Canadians adopted a more holistic perspective on economic inequality, and examined the potential of an alternative business model - the worker co-operative.

Though worker co-operatives are relatively well-developed elsewhere (Spain's famous Mondragon Cooperative has been rated by Forbes magazine as one of the 10 best places to work in Europe), they remain marginal here, in no small part because they do not mesh well with North American corporate law.

Nevertheless, in today's economic climate they offer a number of enticing benefits. Like conventional corporations, co-operatives are private, for-profit enterprises.

What sets them apart is workers, not outside investors, fully own the company. These owner/employees keep all profits, instead of seeing them distributed to stockholders who often have little connection to the business other than their initial investment.

Through a one-worker, one-vote system, members are responsible for steering the company, either directly through general assembly votes or, more commonly, by electing a board of directors.

Because members have a vested interest in the success of the business, studies show they work harder and require less supervision, leading to better productivity and long-term survival rates above those of conventional companies. Co-operatives operate within the market, while providing greater worker empowerment and a more equitable distribution of revenue without government intervention - which ought to appeal to those on both the political left and right.

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/business/Guest+column+Consider+worker+operatives/5965733/story.html#ixzz1jIjBcr30

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But what really is a worker co-op ? Here straight from the horse's mouth is the definition that the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation applies.

++++++++++++++++++++++++
What is a Worker Co-op?
Worker co-operatives are businesses that are owned and democratically controlled by the members. The main purpose of a worker co-operative is to provide employment for its members through operating an enterprise that follows the Co-operative Principles and Values. When new employees join the business, after a successful probationary period they are encouraged to apply for membership. The worker co-op is, in principle, designed to provide benefits not just to the founding members but also to all future employee/members.

To create their worker co-op, members combine their skills, interests and experiences to achieve mutual goals such as creating jobs for themselves, providing a community service and increasing democracy in the workplace. The variety of enterprises operating as worker co-ops is very broad. Virtually any enterprise can be organized as a worker co-operative. The worker co-op idea can work for you if you have a marketable product, start-up capital and a plan for organization and growth.

Each member pays a membership fee, or purchases a membership share, and has one vote no matter how many shares they own. Through the democratic governance of the co-op, all members have equal opportunity to affect the way the business is run and to offer input on the decisions affecting their everyday work lives. Because they develop the policies that determine the co-operative’s daily and long term operation, trust, communication and co-operation are vital to the co-op’s success. The co-op’s assets are collectively owned and surplus earnings are allocated to the workers according to the bylaws and policies established by the co-op,often in proportion to hours worked by members and with limited return on shares and member loans.

Worker co-ops differ substantially from conventional businesses. Conventional businesses’ primary aim is to make profit for the owners who may be - but in many cases are not - employed by the business. Such an owner’s voting control and share of profit is based on the amount of money invested, not for any services that they provide the business. This is a fundamental difference, as in conventional businesses the ultimate authority rests with a single individual, or with a small group,and the business decisions are based upon maximizing their benefit as owners. Any profit sharing with the workers or with the broader community is at the owner’s sole discretion.

In summary, worker co-operatives are a radical break from conventional businesses. The worker co-op’s primary goal in operating an enterprise is for service to its employees and its community rather than in service to the owners of capital. The goal is to provide the best possible employment conditions for the members and to provide the customers and community with a service or product at a fair price that meets their needs and leads to a sustainable community.

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One of the advantages of the worker coop model is that it is an open option at any time. During revolutions it becomes almost a necessity as worker councils keep production happening despite the absence of the old bosses. It is also an option in decidedly non-revolutionary situations and in all the stages between these extremes. Rather than being a "plan z" when an enterprise is shutting down it should be a predetermined goal of the labour movement. In relation to that it is heartening to see the present collaboration of the Spanish Mondragon co-ops and the North American United Steel Workers.

In certain situations that are short of "revolution" the movement of workers to occupy and take over a business abandoned by an owner is not as difficult as trying to salvage a business that is insolvent in an otherwise healthy economy. The following article from the Upside Down World website discusses what happened in Argentina during its economic crisis in 2001.

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Occupy, Resist, Produce: Worker Cooperatives in Argentina

Written by Benjamin Dangl
During the economic crisis of 2001, when politicians and banks failed, many Argentines took matters into their own hands. Poverty, homelessness and unemployment were countered with barter systems and grassroots, micro-credit lending programs. Community groups were created to provide solidarity, food and support in neighborhoods across the country.

Perhaps the most well known of these initiatives was the recuperation of bankrupt factories and businesses which were occupied by workers and run cooperatively. There are roughly two hundred worker-run factories and businesses in Argentina, most of which started in the midst of the 2001 crisis. 15,000 people work in these cooperatives and the businesses range from car part producers to rubber balloon factories. Two recuperated businesses with stories that are representative of this movement are Hotel Bauen and the Chilavert book publishing factory.

Hotel Bauen

Hotel Bauen first opened during the military dictatorship in 1978 when Buenos Aires hosted the World Cup. From that time onward, the hotel was a meeting place for big businesses owners, people connected to the dictatorship, and politicians such as former Argentine President Carlos Menem. Ironically, since the worker takeover in 2003, Hotel Bauen has been a meeting place for left-leaning activists groups and union members. Recently, the city's subway workers went on strike and much of their decision making and organizing was coordinated from the hotel.

Marcelo Iurcovich ran the hotel for years until 1997 when he sold it to Solari, a Chilean company. In 2001 the hotel went bankrupt and on December 21st, Solaris fired all of its workers. The majority of the ninety employees went without work for twelve to fourteen months. "Our decision to take over the hotel wasn't capricious," explained Horacio Lalli, a member of the hotel's cooperative. "A lot of the people here were fathers and mothers of families. There was no work. We had to do something, so after a lot of meetings we decided to take the hotel back."

On March 21, 2003 after a meeting in Chilavert, one of the first worker-run factories in the city, Hotel Bauen's workers gathered at night at the intersection of the streets Corrientes and Calloa in downtown Buenos Aires. They walked the short distance to the hotel and entered the building. Cheers filled the air. The lights were switched on. Workers hugged each other and wept. They had succeeded in the first step of the recuperation process: occupation.

Yet the hotel was far from being in working condition. A lot of the material and equipment had been sold by the previous owners or stolen. The workers still faced months of cleaning and repairing in order to get the hotel back on its feet. "Throughout this time businesses and students in Buenos Aires helped us out by gathering money for us so we could eat," Lalli explained. "Yet we were afraid the hotel bosses would come back and kick us out. This period of time was full of fear."

It took the workers until August of 2004 to reopen the hotel. To this day, a verdict has not been reached and the fate of the hotel remains in the hands of the judge. According to Lalli, the judge will probably decide that the workers need to pay rent or buy the business from the previous owner.

In the meantime, the hotel is back in business. Though it is still not entirely in working order, it is a bustling center for political and cultural events and generates enough profit to keep the operation going. The workers are running their business as a cooperative. Not everyone receives the same salary, but all major decisions are made in assemblies attended by all the hotel's workers.

Fabio Resino has been working at the hotel since it was taken over by the workers in 2003. "If the hotel had been run as a cooperative for all these years it would not have closed," he explained. "There was a lot of corruption and bad management with the previous owner. You could ask all ninety people that work here today and they'd all respond that they prefer this system to working for one boss. It takes more time this way, you have to work for more hours with fewer resources, but it's worth it."

"Before, we worked for a boss," he continued. "Now we work for ourselves. And when it is a cooperative you want to work better because it is your business, your own process. Before workers were numbers. Now we are people."

Chilavert

The Chilavert book publishing factory is located outside the center of Buenos Aires in a quiet neighborhood. On the front of the building is a colorful mural which contains the slogan of the recuperated business movement: "Occupy, Resist, Produce."

The factory itself is divided into offices, a kitchen, a cultural center and a large area full of printing and book binding machines. The machines vary in age; some of them are from the 1950's, and the newer ones are from the 1970's. When I visited, people of all ages were in the factory, either working or helping to organize community events. One woman was working in the cultural center on the second floor; another was sorting articles for a journal Chilavert produces. A musician stopped by to use the computer to print a flier for one of his concerts. Teenagers who worked in the factory as interns listened as another worker explained the intricacies of book layout and design. Towards the end of the day, dozens of people showed up for salsa classes in the cultural center. The factory had a festive, communal feel to it, but work was still going on and the machines were printing away. While I was there, a book of poetry and a science text book were being published.

When the factory was started in 1923 it was called Gaglianone, after the family who ran the business for decades before the worker takeover. After the takeover, the workers renamed their factory Chilavert, after the street it is on. Gaglianone was well known in Buenos Aires as a producer of high quality art books and materials for the major theaters in the city. However, in the 1990's the business had less work and a lot of the equipment was sold off, salaries were lowered and people were fired. In April of 2002, the factory closed its doors.

Out of necessity and a desire to keep their place of work functioning, the workers decided to occupy the factory. At the beginning of the occupation, they clandestinely produced books, (as illegal occupants of the building, it was against the law to do so). After producing them, they snuck the books through a hole in the factory's wall and into the neighbor's house. Though the hole has since been repaired, Chilavert workers have proudly placed a frame around this exposed brick section of the wall.

A climactic moment came on May 24th 2002 when eight police patrol cars, dozens of policemen, eight assault vehicles, two ambulances and one fire truck showed up at Chilavert to kick the workers out. Though there were only eight workers occupying the building they were accompanied by nearly three hundred other people, including neighbors, students and workers from other cooperatives who were there to help defend the factory. The massive group intimidated the police and when it became clear that blood was about to flow from both sides, the police retreated. The workers had won.

Occupy, Resist, Produce

Candido Gonzalez worked at Chilavert for forty two years before participating in the worker takeover. After a recent heart attack he attributes to stress and overwork, he said he plans to take it easy. That didn't stop him from recently attending the fifth annual World Social Forum in Brazil and participating in a recent city-wide subway strike. Throughout my visit, he joked with many workers in the building and seemed perfectly capable of talking forever. Our interview lasted a couple of hours and though he focused on Chilavert, he touched upon everything from earthquakes to whiskey.

"Occupy, resist and produce. This is the synthesis of what we are doing," Candido said, as he passed me a glass of iced tea. "And it is the community as a whole that makes this possible. When we were defending this place there were eight assault vehicles and thirty policemen that came here to kick us out. But we, along with other members of the community, stayed here and defended the factory."

He recalls this fight with tears in his eyes, "It is normal for you to fight for yourself, but when others fight for your cause it is very emotional."

Part of the local economy in the neighborhood depends on Chilavert for business. "We get our transportation, ink, food, coffee and paper - there is a paper factory fifteen blocks from here - all in this neighborhood. Chilavert helps the economy and if this factory closes, the neighborhood suffers."

Twelve people work at the factory and unlike other cooperatives in the city, everyone has the same salary. Major decisions are made in assemblies and community based activities play an important role in the weekly agenda. On the second level of the building there is a cultural center which is used for dance classes, movie screenings, discussions, poetry readings, parties and art exhibits.

Since the worker takeover, Chilavert has produced numerous books on social and political themes, with titles such as "The Unemployed Workers Movement," "What are Popular Assemblies?" and "Piquetera (Argentine activist group) Dignity."

"Every decision, every assembly, every book published, has something to do with politics," Chilavert worker, Julieta Galera explained. "The idea is to make books and works of art that have something to do with our political vision. There is a lot of prejudice against recuperated factories in Buenos Aires. People think we don't work hard enough. But Chilavert does some of the best work in the business."

Though Chilavert is one of the most famous of the recuperated businesses, its story is still unknown most Argentines. "We almost don't exist in the newspapers or the TV programs because we aren't with the government," Candido explained. "There are some two hundred recuperated, cooperative businesses in Argentina. That's not a lot compared to all the others that are not run this way."

Candido didn't think much of current president Nestor Kirchner, and didn't attribute Chilavert's success to any politician. "We didn't put a political party banner in the factory because we are the ones that took the factory. All kinds of politicians have come here asking for our support. Yet when the unions failed, when the state failed, the workers began a different kind of fightIf you want to take power and you can't take over the state, you have to at least take over the means of production."

Candido pointed across the room to a giant safe in the corner. Across the top of the safe was the name, Gaglianone. He laughed and shook his head. Perhaps that's where the old boss horded all of his money. "Now," Candido explained, pulling out a bottle, "this is where we keep the whiskey."

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Summing up it can be said that the producer co-op model is almost everywhere and always an option for labour. It should not be reduced to a salvage operation when a business is in trouble. In better times it should become a long range project of progressive unions. Rather than simply reacting to what the boss is doing unions should be active in gradually increasing their control of an enterprise. Pension funds are one source of the funds needed to do this. So are voluntary subscriptions and a dedicated portion of union dues. With labour at the table management would actually be far more reasonable in the wages and benefits area than they are in this age of cutbacks.

2012-01-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN LABOUR NEWFOUNDLAND:

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

It is a very old story out in Newfoundland way. Fish processing companies come and go, opening, closing and reopening elsewhere. All, of course, to keep labour costs as low as possible no matter what the effect on local communities.

The Ocean Choice International company is cut from the usual cloth. They have recently laid off 400 workers in Port Union and Marystown. This has come along with a "request" to the Newfoundland government to grant the company permanent exemption to ship fish outside of the province for processing. In return the company "promises" to double the number of jobs in Fortune, another fishing community, and by some miracle make them year around. The likelihood of them holding to this promise is about the same as a snowball gambling in the netherworld.

Laid off workers and their supporters gathered at the Paradise Newfoundland headquarters of Ocean Choice to voice their own demands. The workers are represented by the CAW affiliated Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union. Look to their website for more news of this dispute. Here's the basic story from the CBC. Molly has to say that she is doubtful about the good faith of the opposition politicians who addressed the rally.

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Protesters rally at OCI headquarters
Labour leaders, opposition politicians address crowd
By Rob Antle, CBC News
About 150 protesters gathered at Ocean Choice International headquarters in Paradise Tuesday to rally against the company.

Former fish plant workers bussed in from Port Union and Marystown to hear labour leaders and opposition politicians deliver broadsides against OCI.

George Feltham, an inshore fisherman and a vice-president with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, condemned the company.

"This is not only an attack on plants, this is an attack on the fishery as a whole," Feltham said.

FFAW president Earle McCurdy said the industry is at a "fundamental turning point" right now.

More than 150 people, waving placards and chanting slogans, protested at OCI headquarters on Tuesday. (Rob Antle/CBC)He said the fight against plant closures must continue.

"The company, the union and the provincial government have a responsibility to leave no stone unturned to do everything possible to save those jobs, save those plants, save those communities," McCurdy said.

'Moaned, whined and sooked'
Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour president Lana Payne slammed the company, saying Ocean Choice "moaned, whined and sooked" about a request from the provincial government for more information.

On Monday, OCI officials said that critical comments by Fisheries Minister Darin King were hurting the company's reputation with its global clientele.

But Payne said the real damage came when OCI laid off 400 people at its Port Union and Marystown facilities weeks before Christmas.

Workers want the shuttered fish plants reopened. They also want the government to deny OCI's request for exemptions to ship unprocessed fish out of the province.

The company is promising to nearly double the number of jobs at its fish plant in Fortune, and make those jobs year round, if the province grants its request.

The government has already turned down OCI's request for permanent exemptions, but no decision has been made on temporary ones.

Protesters propped placards against the OCI headquarters building at the end of Tuesday's rally. (Rob Antle/CBC)The company is sharing information with the government, and a decision on that could be made within weeks.

Opposition reaction
The leaders of the province's two opposition parties spoke in support of the protesters' cause.

Liberal Leader Dwight Ball accused the Tory administration of lacking vision on the fishery.

"This Dunderdale government has not been proactive, nor have they been creative," Ball said. "They have not been strong advocates for strenghtening our fishery."

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael said Fisheries Minister Darin King took a step in the right direction when he turned down OCI's request for permanent exemptions last week, but pledged to keep his feet to the fire.

"The resource belongs to the people," Michael said.

2012-01-10T22:42:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN POLITICS QUÉBEC:

POLITICIANS LEAD CHARGE AGAINST PENSIONS IN QUÉBEC:

It seems that in almost all countries there is a concerted effort to deny workers the pension benefits that they have worked and struggled for. Canada is, of course, no different, and the following open letter from the Canadian Union Of Public Employees (CUPE) speaks of how this attack is playing out in the Province of Québec.

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Politicians attack pension plans and keep Quebecers in the dark

The following open letter from CUPE Quebec was recently published by a number of media outlets (Le Devoir, Cyberpresse).

The end of 2011 was marked by an unprecedented attack against the pension plans of hundreds of thousands of Quebec workers. Quebec City's mayor Régis Labeaume is leading the attack and requesting that the Quebec government change pension plans to cut costs.

Keeping Quebecers in the dark is part of a ploy and an ideological attack on the working conditions of the middle‑class. Countless omissions (presumably intentional) are clouding the issue and making it impossible to hold a healthy debate. Montreal's mayor Gérald Tremblay is threatening to do the same.

It's time to set the record straight so that Quebecers understand what is truly at stake.

The crisis

The financial crisis is largely to blame for the current strain on certain pension plans. Overall, pension plans simply have not perform as well as expected and the cause of this financial collapse is clearly the worldwide financial crisis.

We were falsely promised that the “free market” and “invisible hand” would lead us to an era of unprecedented prosperity, and more market stability and efficiency; when in reality, it brought nothing but confusion, fraud, inequity and crisis.

Workers have consistently stood-up against this financial carelessness, using unions and progressive politicians as their voice.

However, despite the opposition representatives of the 1 per cent have still managed to force the 99 per cent into a corner. And now the blame is being laid on the last bastion of the middle class: unionized workers and their pension plans.

The challenge now is how do we solve the pension plan dilemma?

First, take a deep breath. Second, we need to look at the long-term. We must measure the solvency of pension plans over the span of a career. Yes, there may be losses, but there is also an equal chance of incurring a surplus (which would be higher and more stable if our leaders regulated our financial markets more wisely).

What about surpluses?

For years there was a surplus. However, when that was the case did you ever hear Quebec municipalities offering to lower Quebecers' taxes due to a surplus in their employees’ pension plans? Of course not.

During those golden years when employers were making contributions directly from pension fund surpluses, they argued that they were fully within their rights. They claimed that any surplus belonged to them since they were the only ones responsible in the event of a deficit.

They were quite comfortable sticking their hands in the cookie jar whenever it was convenient. But now that the good days are behind them and pension plans are struggling with deficits, workers expect their employers to do the right thing. It is their duty to take responsibility for the deficits, just as they had promised.

Now we're beginning to see that employers never really thought they would have to deal with deficits and they are doing everything in their power to avoid taking responsibility. At the very least, is it not normal for workers to expect that their employers return the money they “legally stole”?

Possible solutions

Trade unions know that they must take action and that sitting back and doing nothing is not an option. The main objective must be to keep these pension plans, but solutions must be case-specific in order to make them more structurally viable.

Unions are already doing their part by discussing possible solutions with employers. CUPE is committed to a process of lengthy consultations to find ways to secure our pension plans. It is our duty to keep senior citizens above the poverty line to not further the gap between the rich and poor.

In fact, the current struggle for the labour movement is not only to uphold private or supplemental pension plans, but also to significantly improve public pension plans, including the Quebec Pension Plan and the Canada Pension Plan. In turn, this would help protect Quebecers against poverty while reducing the cost of other pension plans.

For the sake of all Quebecers, we must act now. As trade unions that is what we are working towards!

2012-01-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:

NO TO BUDGET CUTS IN TORONTO:

The following call out for protest against proposed budget cuts in the City of Toronto comes from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

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[ocap] Stop the Cuts - Final Ford Budget Showdown!‏

Important Update on City Cuts:

1) January 17th Mobilization: Final Budget Showdown

2) What you need to know about the 2013 City Budget

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1) Final Budget Showdown

Toronto vs Ford!

Toronto Stop the Cuts Rally and Action

January 17, 5:30pm

City Hall

**Join OCAP and the Downtown East Committee as we meet up and march together to City Hall: 4:30 pm at Moss Park (Queen and Sherbourne)

On January 17th-19th, City Council will vote on the 2012 budget. Ford and his buddies want to cut nearly $90 million in services, even though the city has a surplus of at least $140 million. They plan to slash services, hike fares and user fees, and lockout or layoff workers when there is actually enough money to improve life in this city.

Toronto Stop the Cuts has been organizing in neighbourhoods across the city to build powerful resistance against Ford and his cuts. On January 17th, we are all coming together for a Final Budget Showdown - a rally and actions to oppose the cuts and demand an expansion of city services for all!

Join us - together we can Stop the Cuts!

More info:

www.torontostopthecuts.com

www.facebook.com/stopthecuts

www.twitter.com/tostopthecuts

tostopthecuts@gmail.com

Get involved:

Join a neighbourhood committee

Learn more about the cuts

To endorse, email tostopthecuts@gmail.com

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2) What you need to know about the 2012 Toronto City Budget?

First, there is no $774 million deficit. In fact, there is a $154 million surplus.

Second, the Budget Committee votes on a draft Budget on January 9th. This budget is amended by the Executive Committee on January 12th and then sent to the full Council. All City Councilors debate the Budget on January 17th and will vote on the budget on the 17th, 18th, or 19th.

This is not just about stopping cuts and layoffs or ensuring that there are no more user fees in the city. The fight now is to ensure that the 2012 Toronto Budget invests more in services for poor people and undocumented people, in immigrant neighbourhoods, for disabled people, for youth and the elderly. It is to roll back the 10% budget cuts that have taken place.

Here are three things you can do to make this happen. Remember, now is the time.

1. Come to Final Budget Showdown: Toronto Vs Rob Ford Rally and Action& bring friends! January 17, 2011, 5:30pm

City Hall

Share! http://www.facebook.com/events/294553420588331/ & http://clicktotweet.com/auabo

2. Take time off work, school or other commitments and go to City Hall.

January 17, 18 & 19

9:30 am onwards.

Council Chambers

This is when they will be discussing the City Budget.

More info: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/meetingCalendarView.do?function=meetingCalendarView#current

3. Visit, call and write these 9 Councilors

Tell them that you are part of the Toronto Stop the Cuts Network, a neighbourhood organization with 10 chapters in all corners of the city.Tell them that they should not support any cuts, layoffs, reduction of services, or user fees in the Toronto City Budget 2012. In fact, with a Budget surplus, now is the time to invest in services for poor people, undocumented people, disabled people, elderly and children. It's time to build a Toronto for all.

(See see http://www.torontostopthecuts.com/uncategorized/read-and-sign-the-toronto-declaration/ for more ideas)

(If you live in one of these wards, try and get your entire street, or building to sign a petition and drop it off at their offices.

Sample petition: http://goo.gl/YucNn

Online Petition also available:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/maketorontobetterbudget2012/)

1. Michelle Berardinetti Scarborough West

Phone: 416-392-0213 Email: councillor_berardinetti@toronto.ca

2. Mike Thompson- Scarborough Centre

-Phone: 416-397-9274 Email: councillor_thompson@toronto.ca

3.Chin Lee- Scarb-Rouge River

-Phone: 416-392-1375 Email: councillor_lee@toronto.ca

[These coucillors will be at Scarborough Civic Centre on Tuesday, January10 at 7:30 p.m. Register to speak: scc@toronto.ca or 416-396-7287]

4.Josh Colle- Eglinton and Lawrence

Phone: 416-392-4027 Email: councillor_colle@toronto.ca Meeting: January 11, 6:30 p.m. at Glen Long Community Centre, 35 Glen Long Avenue (west of Dufferin, north of Glencairn)

5. Josh Matlow - Trinity St. Pauls

Phone: 416-392-7906 Email: councillor_matlow@toronto.ca Meeting: January 11, 7-9 p.m. at North Toronto Memorial Community Centre,200 Eglinton Avenue West

6.Jaye Robinson

Phone: 416-395-6408 Email: councillor_robinson@toronto.ca

7.Mary-Margaret McMahon

Phone: 416-392-1376 Email: councillor_mcmahon@toronto.ca

8.Gloria Lindsay Luby

Phone: 416-392-1369 Email: councillor_lindsay_luby@toronto.ca

9. Cesar Palacios- Davenport-Perth

Phone: 416-392-7011 Email: councillor_palacio@toronto.ca

(This info has also been posted here: http://www.torontostopthecuts.com/petition-to-councillors/ )

4. Check the Stop the Cuts Web Calendar For Other Upcoming Events/Meetings:

Davenport Public Meeting - Voice your concerns! Stop the Cuts!

Location: Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood & Community Health Centre, 1900 Davenport Rd.

Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Co-Hosted by: Bread & Bricks Davenport West Social Justice Group and Davenport Stop the Cuts Committee

2012-01-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN LABOUR LONDON ONTARIO:

RALLY TO PUSH BACK AGAINST THE CORPORATE BULLDOZER CATERPILLAR INC.:

Since New Year's Day 425 workers at Electro-Motive (a subsidiary of heavy equipment firm Caterpillar) have been locked out. The demands of this quite profitable company are quite amazing - a 50% cut in wages as well as the decimation of benefits-, and it is entirely possible, as the following article points out, that management is not serious at all in its bargaining. The rally is being organized by a number of labour groups. The Electro-Motive workers are represented by the Canadian Auto Workers .The following article is from the Ontario Federation of Labour.

The CAW, along with other labour groups, is demanding that the federal government release the secret report undertaken for a foreign takeovers of a Canadian company on Caterpillar's purchase of the facility. This process is supposed to ensure that any foreign acquisitions are "in the interest of Canadians". How cutting Canadian wages in half is in said Canadians' interest is a mystery only known by Prime Minister Harper's inner circle. Caterpillar has a long record of hard nosed labour relations, having previously won a 17 month strike in the USA. On the other hand workers at Caterpillar France in 2009 won their contest with the company by taking managers hostage. Interesting thought.

*****************************
OFL TO MOBILIZE MASSIVE RALLY IN LONDON AGAINST CATERPILLAR INC:
London Day of Action declared for Saturday, January 21 at 11 am
(LONDON, ON) -- The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) today issued a call to workers across Ontario to mobilize for a massive rally in London, Ontario on Saturday, January 21 to oppose Electro-Motive Canada (a subsidiary of U.S. industrial giant Caterpillar Inc.) and its attack on decent paying Canadian jobs.

“We see this fight as being central to the entire labour movement and we are going to dig in our heels and fight Caterpillar with everything we’ve got,” said OFL President Sid Ryan. “Good jobs and retirement security are being threatened by greedy corporations and every level of government. If workers don’t start to fight back, decent jobs will become a thing of the past and the middle class will be decimated.”

Electro-Motive locked out workers at its London-based diesel train plant on New Year’s Day. It was the latest tactic in the company’s attempt to slash benefits and cut wages from $35 to $16.50 an hour, after a year in which Caterpillar enjoyed billion dollar profits and a 20 percent boost to production. The company is rumoured to be planning to take advantage of Ontario’s lax labour laws by bringing in scab labour to keep the plant operational while bullying the union into devastating concessions. Many fear that the company’s hidden agenda is to move production to a U.S. plant in Indiana.

“This greedy multi-national corporation is trying to bulldoze living standards in Canada. If Caterpillar is successful in halving wages and gutting benefits, families in London will lose their homes and the whole community will suffer,” said Ryan. “Prime Minister Harper and his friends on Bay Street don’t seem to care about the livelihood of working Canadians, so we are going to raise enough of a ruckus that it will be impossible for them to ignore us.”

In calling a Day of Action against Caterpillar, the OFL has promised to bus thousands of public and private sector workers from across Ontario to the London plant to demonstrate the support for the workers of Electro-Motive Canada. The rally will draw attention to the failure of the Harper government to protect Canadian jobs and interests when domestic companies are acquired by foreign multi-nationals. It will also call on Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to support fair collective bargaining by banning the use of scabs in labour disputes.

“This mass rally is meant to define 2012 as a year of militant resistance against corporate greed. Workers are fed up with growing income inequities in our society and the governments that are allowing citizen-funded corporate tax cuts to fatten CEO salaries while delivering no net benefit to our economy or our families,” said Ryan. “The message for employers is simple: support decent jobs and benefits or it won’t be business as usual in Ontario.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. OFL President Sid Ryan is the voice of Ontario’s labour movement.

Related Web Sites:
http://www.Twitter.com/OntarioLabour
http://www.Facebook.com/OntarioFedLabour

For More Information:
Patrick (Sid) Ryan, President
p: 416.441.2731 m: 416.209.0066 f: 416.441.0722
Toll-free: 1-800-668-9138

Joel Duff, Communications Director
p: 416-443-7665 m: 416-707-0349 f: 416-441-1893

cope343

2012-01-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

AMERICAN POLITICS:

OBAMA BE DAMNED:

BREAKING THE CHAINS OF ILLUSION.

2012-01-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

IMAGES:

THE CORPORATE RESPONSE:

2012-01-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

ART:

POLICING:

As in keeping "someone's peace.

2012-01-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

POLITICS/HUMOUR:

WHERE THE BALLOT "COUNTS"

2012-01-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

HUMOUR:

TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS

2012-01-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN POLITICS:

THE REAL LAST MAN STANDING:

It turns out that I was wrong about Winnipeg being the last Occupy camp in Canada. Recently the authorities have evicted a camp in Fredricton New Brunswick. This leaves one more still up and running ie Occupy Newfoundland in St. Johns. The Newfoundland authorities say that they have no plans to move on this encampment.

Sighhhhh ! My local patriotism is shot to hell. Still it is gratifying to learn that at least one group continues to brave the Canadian winter. The weather here on the prairies has been weirdly balmy, but it is still cold enough to freeze the balls off a polar bear. Meanwhile down in the one town I have ever seen that has an entire street devoted to bars our fishy comrades hang on in a damp place where zero there equals minus 15 out here. I raise a glass of Screetch and toast them.

Hey all you readers ! Drop Occupy Newfoundland a line to tell these tough buggers that they ain't forgotten. Aside from the website link above you can reach them at their Facebook page.

2012-01-02T12:50:00.000-08:00

BOOKS:

PAPAL SIN AND LORD ACTON:

"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks"

- Lord Acton

I thought that the above quote from Lord Acton was the most appropriate for our times, even more so than his famous "power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Acton is very much like the Bible; often quoted but rarely read. In recent times conservatives have tried to claim him as their own, but the more intelligent denizens of the conservative world recognize that he was actually a classical liberal. Thus they hope to claim him for their so-called commitment to liberty which is more honoured in the breech than in reality. I know, I know. There are conservatives who actually have an ideological commitment to liberty, but in order to try and carry their views into politics they have been content to ally themselves with the most illiberal segments of society. In our times the example of liberals/socialists/anarchists allying themselves with Leninist thuggery are few and almost insignificant outside of the USA. What is not insignificant is the tendency for classical liberals/libertarians to ally themselves with social conservatives of varying degrees of thuggery. As Acton says;

"At all times sincere friend of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities, that have prevailed by associating themselves with auxiliaries whose objects differed from their own; and this association which is always dangerous, has sometimes been disastrous, by giving to opponents just grounds of opposition."

-Lord Acton

I have already posted on Garry Wills' book 'Papal Sin' in which Wills, as a dissident Catholic, lays out the system of deceit that underlies the modern Papacy. The book is broad-ranging, going back all the way to Augustine versus Jerome, but one point particularly grabbed my attention. After his farcical attack on the modern world in his 'Syllabus of Errors' (1864) Pope Pius IX was not satisfied with the totalitarian control he had attempted to impose on the Catholic Church. His next step was a Church Council, Vatican I, that he plotted to have his "infallibility" recognized at.

To say the least Pius' manoeuvres were conspiratorial in this case, and he managed to have his declaration accepted even despite the fact that a majority either rejected it totally or felt that such a declaration was ill advised at the time. Here is where the Anglo-Catholic Lord Acton comes into the book, and it must be said that he had a more active historical role than that of a quote mine. Moving from country to country Acton solidified the opposition to Pius. In the end he failed, but the struggle was heroic. If there were only one reason to recommend 'Papal Sin' this glimpse into Acton's life would be it. The man was far more than the common quote from him. As Acton said of his opponents;

"There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it."

I recommend the Wikipedia article on Acton highly as an enlightening glimpse into somebody who was far more than what he is remembered for.

2012-01-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

THE NEW YEAR'S SPECTRE:

Perhaps the ghost of New Years Yet To Come ?

2012-01-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

PERSONAL

HAPPY NEW YEAR:

Welcome to 2012 all you friends, enemies and innocent bystanders of Molly's Blog. May it be even more eventful and productive than 2011.

2011-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

RELIGION:

PAPAL SINS:

Amazingly enough I finished reading two books on a single day. There are two more rather technical books that I am still reading, but probably few would be interested in them. The first book I finished was the collected fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. I've already mentioned said book here. The second book is Garry Wills' 'Papal Sin'. You can read it yourself here at Google Books. I hope the referral is right. I often make mistakes in long addresses.

I have to say that the book surprised me. From the title and a brief perusal I expected this book to get into the gritty details of medieval and Renaissance Popes with all the neat stories about simony, nepotism, sexual impropriety and political treachery. Nope. The network of deception that the author heads for began in the 19th century with Pope Pius IX. There is, however, more than enough dogs' dinner in the last 1 1/2 centuries to satisfy the most ardent critic of the Papacy.

Wills is hardly the most ardent. He is still a very devoted Catholic, whatever his heretical opinions. He denies the 1870 Vatican I promulgation of Papal Infallibility from the point of view of Church tradition in addition to the thuggish schemes initiated by Pius to gain the acceptance of his infallibility.

I must say that I enjoyed this book immensely, especially considered the recent death of my Sister Ann who was a nun with heterodox opinions. Wills begins his book with chapters showing the "bad faith" and lies of the Catholic Church. He saves his own reformist opinion for the latter chapters where he contrasts the views of the Church Father Augustine to modern Papal opinion.

Along the way he scatters gems such as the fact that the apostles were married; that there were no priests in the very early times of Christianity and no bishops until even later. He emphasizes the democracy of the early Church and suggests that this should be a model for today's Church.

What can I say here as an ex-Catholic and an atheist for over 45 years ? This book is obviously addressed to other Catholic believers. It makes an appeal to the "winter soldiers" who continue to resist foolish Papal pronouncements.I would recommend it for believers as an eye openers to the fact that there can be dissent in the Catholic Church. Perhaps even unbelievers could profit even more by reading this book. It may allow them to formulate their objections at a higher level.

2011-12-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

LOCAL NEWS:

THE LAST MAN STANDING:

Last Wednesday December 21 the Province of Manitoba finally moved to evict Occupy Winnipeg from Memorial Park at, of course, 7:00 am. According to what I read Occupy Winnipeg was the last Occupy camp to be evicted in Canada. Not bad strategy on the part of the City and Province actually, especially considering the dispute about who is responsible for "peace"-keeping on Provincial land within the City. In the end Manitoba Conservation and the Winnipeg City Police outnumbered the hardy souls, three in number, who were still braving the cold in the early morning by 10 to one. Once more the mosquito was swatted with a sledgehammer.

Unlike other cities Winnipeg (along with the Province) elected to let cold and the street demons deal with their problem which they did in the end. Other jurisdictions elected to apply the iron fist much earlier. As can be seen this delaying tactic was, from the point of view of authority, much less damaging to said authority than showing off earlier. The final decision to evict was because of what I believe was fire number three at the site. The most likely arsonists are the street demons, especially those who were previously booted out.

The wife and I actually visited the site only three times, twice to bring food and once for a failed offer to cook Christmas dinner for them. On the last evening visit I saw evidence of the security patrols that they had instituted to try and prevent further arson, though Molly thinks that a weapon is better to clear thugs than a dragged along kid (for sure). If Occupy here and elsewhere want to attempt this tactic again in the Spring instead of moving on to new things as many have done they're going to have to be a lot better at security next time around. That, however, may be beside the point as many (most ?) locations are already doing new things. For local updates you can still check out the Occupy Winnipeg Facebook page.

2011-12-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHISM:

SOLIDARITY WITH INDONESIAN PUNKS:

In the countries where anarchism is a tradition the idea of "anarchist subcultures" is definitely a peripheral matter. Even in countries where anarchism is not a large tradition but where historical memory has been preserved anarchists are well into moving beyond subcultures. But in countries such as Indonesia (and many others) anarchism is being introduced via the "punk subculture". This may not be the optimal way to introduce the ideology, but it is the way in reality.

In Indonesia the area of Aceh has become a testing ground for the Indonesian state insofar as they hope to trade federal tolerance of vicious Sharia law (amongst other matters) for the unity of Indonesia. Thus the religious nutters of this part of Indonesia are allowed to run riot providing they refrain from attacks on the central government. One of their high handed attacks has been to attack the punk subculture present even in this remote Islamist outpost. Here is the call from Indonesian punks/anarchists in A-Infos for solidarity with their struggle.

********************

Indonesia, Worldwide Solidarity with Aceh (anarcho-)Punks

64 young people were arrested at a punk concert in Banda Aceh on Saturday December 11th. A few days later they were taken to a police training school, where their hair was ritually shaved, their clothes and possessions were taken from them, they were forced to pray, and the Acehnese authorities stated that they would be held for 10 days for 're-education'.

Actions in support of the punks have taken place across Indonesia but also around the world as punk communities have responded to the news, after mainstream media outlets broadcast pictures of the mass detention.

---What happened in Aceh?---

After years of war and the devastation of the 2004 tsunami, a peace process was started which resulted in considerable autonomy for Indonesia's northernmost province. Former GAM fighters won the elections. One of the changes they brought in was a form of Islamic Sharia law, which is not enforced in any other part of Indonesia. Currently Aceh is in the run-up to new elections and different candidates are pitching their image to the public.

In nearly all parts of Indonesia there is a large punk scene. Many young homeless kids are attracted by the music and the lifestyle and can support each other in many ways, forming a subcultural community. Indonesian punks often earn a living by busking on buses or at traffic lights, and travel the country for free, hitch-hiking on the back of trucks. But at concerts, which are usually free or cheap and organised according to DIY ethics, people from all backgrounds come along.

The concert on 10th December 2011 was a benefit gig to raise money for orphans. Apparently the event started at about 3pm and it was supposed to continue into the night. but at 21.30, police climbed onto the stage and demanded that the event should finish. The people there tried to negotiate for the gig to continue, but the cops didn't seem to care.

Reacting to the cops' behaviour, the punks started singing a popular resistance song, Darah Juang (blood of struggle), but as it happened, that song seemed to provoke the anger of the cops who then started beating people and arresting them. The arrested punks were taken to the Seulawah National Police School one hour from Banda Aceh city. That's where their hair was shaved off and they were forced into the lake.

Punks in Aceh who weren't arrested have found it difficult to get any communication with their friends, because it seems they are in isolation.

**********

Punks in Indonesia React

Jakarta 17th December:

"Reacting to the repression in Aceh where 64 punks were arrested by Sharhia police, various punk groups from around Jakarta came together for a solidarity action with one demand: Full freedom for the 64 detained Aceh punks. The target of the action was the Provincial Government of Nanggroe Aceh Darusalam representative's building, and then finally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. The action started from Ismail Marzuki Park in front of the Jakarta Institute for the Arts (IKJ). At the HI traffic circle, several people cut their hair into a mohawk as an act of solidarity and a protest at the state's coercive attitude in repressing the arrested. We proclaim our full solidarity and encourage everyone, whether a punk or a sympathiser to get out and show your own solidarity.

Let the people who are behind the iron bars know that they will never be alone.” (translated from negasi blog)

Jakarta

- 19th December

"Solidarity actions against the arbitrary arrest of 64 punks and their detention labelled as reeducation by Aceh's sharia'h police have taken place in Jakarta once again. This time the target was the Indonesian Police headquaters (Mabes Polri) located at 3 Jalan Trunojoyo, south Jakarta. Around 100 people from various places joined this action to “Save the Aceh Punks” (from negasi blog)

In Makassar, Sulawesi, about 100 punks gathered at an abandoned department store on Monday afternoon (19th December) to prepare for a demonstration which took place two days later.

Around the world: Moscow:

“On December the 15th a group of anonymous punks from Moscow decided to act upon receiving news of brutal state repression of Indonesian punk-scene. We consider ourselves anarcho-punks and these news offended us in the deepest sense. We wont tolerate any religion to hold sway over living being’s freedom, especially over our subculture. Thus on the same evening we gathered to express our rage. We chose the Indonesian embassy as our target. For us solidarity starts on subcultural level. We feel that modern Russian anarchists pay too little attention to subcultures of resistance. We wish the news of our action to reach Indonesian comrades. We hope they will have their spirits soar after hearing that in such far-away country there are folks who feel solidarity with their struggle.

Punk is not a crime.

Religion is fascism.

Fight for your looks.”(from act for freedom now)

In London there was a demonstration outside the Indonesian embassy with 25+ people showing up.

In the United States there have been actions at the consulates in San Fransisco and Los Angeles.

Even in China, punks are collecting mixtapes to send over to Aceh when the punks get out.

Video Links:

Moscow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9cXpVqjsCw

Los Angeles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scwDvvwaI-0

Jakarta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY7-plnceJ0&amp

London: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go2GTu9WxL8

2011-12-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

PERSONAL:

FAREWELL TO MY SISTER:

I've reached the age where I see my siblings dying, something quite different from having your parents die (many years in the past for me). Just this week I have been to Calgary for the funeral of my sister Anne. Sister sister actually. She had been a member of the Congregation of the Sisters Of Charity of St, Louis for many decades (since 1959), and had actually been Sister Superior on two different occasions. My sister died in the Calgary airport. For some inexplicable reason I want to attribute her massive heart attack to running to make a connecting flight. I don't know why I want to insist on this. It was indeed chance. Perhaps I want to be assured that the dice of chance were really loaded against her.

In any case I will miss her tremendously. I always enjoyed argueing religion with her, no matter how upset her and I may have been at the time. She was actually one of the people I have met in my life who could make a reasonable argument for the existence of God. Her political views were a strange mixture, containing great sympathy for the semi-anarchist Catholic left such as the Berrigans, along with justification of the evil done by the Catholic Church vis-a-vis the first nations of Canada. To her credit I did see a certain antipathy to the Jesuits (I survived five years of the bastards). Too bad I never heard her views when she was teaching theology in Edmonton.

My sister: Four degrees. A PhD in English literature which led to a few arguments about post modernism. She was open to it. My own position, based in empiricism, was that it was nonsense through and through. She was on her way to Montreal to deliver a paper when she died. Actually I never saw evidence that academia had poisoned her taste for literature which postmodernism has a great tendency to do. On the other hand our tastes in literature were quite different.

In any case she was a remarkable woman whose career spanned Canada, Europe, Africa, the Caribean and the USA. While we often disagreed we loved each other and had great respect for each other. Memorial tributes, according to her will, may be made to a charity supporting women's education in Kenya. She herself taught there under the sponsorship of Canadian Crossroads International.

2011-12-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

POLITICAL HUMOUR:

WAR IN IRAQ ENDS AS US FORCES LEAVE UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS:

2011-12-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

THE KING IS DEAD; LONG LIVE THE KING:

The news tonight is that the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il has gone to join his unlamented father in apotheosis. The Korean regime has in fact gone well beyond the bizarre mutation of a Marxist hereditary monarchy. It has become a modern day version of the Egyptian Pharaohs or the Roman Empire with the happily deceased (to those who were losers in the power plays) elevated to Godhood. Even Stalin at his worst would never have imagined the heights of glorification that the Land of Eternal Famine ,the North Korean state, has bestowed on its head executioner. There is little doubt that Marxist philosophy can lead its believers to strange acts of tyranny when in power and strange acts of justification when not in power. Still it would hard to imagine anything stranger than North Korea.

The NK regime will probably survive, but even that is uncertain. What is sure is that there is only one remaining "communist" dictatorship left in the world- Cuba. I wouldn't count China , Vietnam or Laos because they have retreated from totalitarianism and are now merely "authoritarian". The Cuba regime has much less chance of surviving a visit from the Reaper than North Korea does.

2011-12-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN POLITICS:

CONSERVATIVES ATTACK UNIONS ONCE MORE:

Well, this probably counts as non-news as nobody should be suprised that a Conservative Party wants to gut the power of organized workers to fight back. The following articles (English and French) from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) warns of this desire. I think the most significant point made below is that union books are already open to members, the only openness that should count. The government, of course, sees this as merely an opening salvo in a long term campaign to deprive the NDP of union support. Now I'm also not too thrilled by the chains of gold that tie unions to the NDP, but my idea of union independence would be from the ground up, with more democratic and active unions. NOT by repressive measures on the part of government. Here's the CEP's article.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The Harperites are at it again, another attack on unions
12/09/2011

By Dave Coles
On December 5th Russ Hiebert, Conservative MP for South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale, B.C. introduced Bill C-377 an act to make union books public. You might remember in early November his previous bill C-317, on the exact same topic had to be withdrawn due to parliamentary procedures and didn’t even make it to second reading. It must have been a big defeat for Mr. Hiebert given he had the coveted 1st spot on the private members bills priority list and now it’s back again (at the bottom of the pile) with a new name and a few changes (he can’t introduce the same thing it’s against the rules).

So, did anyone out there think his first shot across the bow, was it? Does anyone actually really think this is about so called transparency or accountability? This has absolutely nothing to do with fairness or ethics or about making bad legislation better. This is a calculated attack on unions, unfair in its segregation of labour organizations and discriminatory in its disclosure requirements.

What the Harperites don’t understand about unions is that our books ARE open to All our members – it’s the basic premise under which we operate. Furthermore, there are provisions under the existing labour legislation and the Canadian Revenue Act.

Let’s be honest the real crux of the bill is political activity of labour organizations. They don’t like what we do and how we do it. But Mr. Hiebert ‘Political Action’ is one of the founding pillars of trade unions-whether you like it or not. Our members know this, vote for this at all our conventions and support our actions. Furthermore the Lavigne Supreme Court decision of 1991 affirms the rights of Unions to engage in political activity without restrictions that a charity is subject to. So this begs the question, how is it fair that you want us to disclose such information on political activity and lobbying to the tax authority when it’s perfectly legal?

Labour must be on alert and mobilizing now to counter a clear and present danger. As long as Harper encourages and coordinates actions like 377 there can be no business as usual with this government.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Les partisans de Harper recommencent à attaquer les syndicats
12/09/2011

Par Dave Coles
Le 5 décembre, Russ Hiebert, député conservateur de South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale, en C.-B., a déposé le projet de loi C-377 , dont l’intention est d’obliger les syndicats à divulguer leurs états financiers. Vous vous souviendrez peut-être qu’au début du mois de novembre, son projet de loi précédent C-317, sur le même sujet, avait dû être retiré en raison de procédures parlementaires et ne s’était même pas rendu en deuxième lecture. Ce fut sans doute toute une défaite pour Russ Hiebert étant donné qu’il avait la première place tant convoitée sur la liste prioritaire des projets de loi d’initiative parlementaire, et ce projet est maintenant de retour (au bas de la liste) sous un nouveau nom et avec quelques modifications (il ne peut déposer le même projet, ce qui est contraire aux règles).

Alors, est-ce que quelqu’un là-bas pense que son premier projet était un coup de semonce? Est-ce quelqu’un pense vraiment que ce projet porte sur une soi-disant transparence et reddition des comptes? Ce projet n’a absolument rien à voir avec l’équité ou les principes éthiques, ou même à améliorer une mauvaise législation. C’est une attaque calculée contre les syndicats, une attaque injuste sur le plan de la ségrégation des organisations syndicales et discriminatoire sur le plan des exigences de divulgation.

Ce que les partisans de Harper ne comprennent pas à propos des syndicats, c’est que nos états financiers SONT ouverts à TOUS nos membres – c’est la prémisse de base sur laquelle nous oeuvrons. En outre, des dispositions existent en vertu de la législation actuelle du travail et de la Loi canadienne de l’impôt sur le revenu.

Soyons honnêtes, le vrai nœud du projet de loi porte sur l’activité politique des organisations syndicales. Ils n’aiment pas ce que nous faisons ni comment nous le faisons. Mais monsieur Hiebert, « l’activité politique » est l’un des piliers fondateurs des syndicats, que vous soyez d’accord ou non. Nos membres le savent, votent en sa faveur à tous nos congrès et soutiennent nos actions. En outre, la décision Lavigne de la Cour suprême en 1991 confirme les droits des syndicats d’entreprendre des activités politiques sans les restrictions auxquelles un organisme de bienfaisance fait l’objet. Ce qui soulève la question, comment pouvez-vous souhaiter que nous divulguions de tels renseignements sur les activités politiques et de lobbying aux autorités en matière fiscale lorsqu’elles sont parfaitement légales?

Les syndicats doivent être en état d’alerte et se mobiliser maintenant pour confronter un réel danger. Aussi longtemps que Harper encouragera et coordonnera des actions comme le projet de loi C-377, nous ne pourrons agir comme si de rien n’était avec ce gouvernement.

2011-12-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

2011: A YEAR OF REVOLUTION:

2011 was a remarkable year. As revolutions sparked throughout the Arab world the "lower" classes of many other countries also rose up as evidenced in Europe, North America and South America and now even in Russia. In sum there hasn't been so much opposition to power for decades. It's hard to say where this will all lead. As the following article says the year has been quite remarkable, and few (nobody ?) could have predicted its events.

The following article is from the online magazine 'The Indypendent'. The reader should note that "Molyneux" is NOT "Mollymew"

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2011: A Revolutionary Year
By John Molyneux
December 11, 2011 2011 will go down in history as a revolutionary year akin to 1848 and 1968: a year in which ordinary people round the world rose up against their governments and ruling elites – their respective 1%s.

Politically speaking, the year began on 17 December 2010 when a young vegetable seller called Mohamed Boazzizi set fire to himself in the southern Tunisian city after police confiscated his stall. What followed was unpredicted by any commentator, left, right or centre. The tone of the first Reuters report make this clear:

Police in a provincial city in Tunisia used tear gas late on Saturday to disperse hundreds of youths who smashed shop windows and damaged cars, witnesses told Reuters.There was no immediate comment from officials on the disturbances. Riots are extremely rare for Tunisia, a north African country of about 10 million people which is one of the most prosperous and stable in the region.

Twenty two days later on 14 January, after riots, demonstrations, violent clashes with security forces and finally mass strikes had spread across Tunisia, the country’s dictator, Zinedine Ben Ali, who had ruled for 23 years with full support from the West, fled to Saudi Arabia. The Arab Spring had started.

Eleven days later on Tuesday 25 January vast numbers of Egyptians poured onto the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. They were, of course, met with brutal repression but they fought back. It was the beginning of the Egyptian Revolution. All the commentators agreed that the Egyptian dictator, Hosni Mubarak, would not be a push over like Ben Ali.

However, by Friday 28th, after three to four days and nights of intensive street fighting and many deaths, the hated police were defeated: in Cairo where the people claimed and held Tahrir Square; in Suez where the main police station was burned down, and across Egypt. The police fled the streets. Mubarak was on the rocks.

Then on Wednesday 2 February Mubarak and his regime counter attacked. They mobilised thousands of ‘supporters’ – in reality paid thugs and plain clothes police – to launch an all out assault, on horses and camels, with machetes, iron bars, whips and rocks, on the people of Tahrir. It became known as ‘the Battle of the Camel’, but once again the people, thanks to great courage and great numbers won the day.

Still Mubarak clung on, infuriating the people with speeches in which, despite rumours that he would resign, he insisted he would continue. Street demonstrations became ever larger – it has been estimated that, all told, 15 million people took part. Then on 9-10 February, the Egyptian workers began to go on mass strike. This was the coup de grace. On 11 February the military dumped their leader. It was only 18 days after the start of the revolution, four less than it took to remove Ben Ali.

On 16 February protests against Gaddafi began in Benghazi and quickly turned into an uprising. On the 25 February there were mass protests – ‘Days of Rage’ – in cities right across the Middle East., including in Sana’a in Yemen, in Bahrain, in Iraq (where six were killed), in Jordan and also back in Tunisia and Egypt. At this moment the march of the Arab Spring seemed unstoppable and it has to be said that if the rest of 2011 had continued the way it began we would all be living in a very different world today.

Unfortunately, as well as ordinary people, there are also rulers and ruling classes and they fight back. The Gaddafi regime, in particular, fought back with terrible ferocity. In Tripoli his armed forces remained loyal and he simply mowed the Libyan revolutionaries down in the Square. By 20 February over 230 were dead. The rebels gained control of Benghazi and other cities but Libya was divided and in the civil war that followed Gaddafi’s superior conventional forces gained the upper hand to the point where they were threatening Benghazi. Meanwhile the Bahrainis of Pearl Square, like the Egyptians of Tahrir before them, were in the process of overwhelming their local police force.

At this point the forces of Western Imperialism, fronted by Sarkozy, took the initiative. In mid-March, under the guise of a ‘humanitarian intervention’, they mounted a sustained air assault on Libya which eventually had the effect of destroying the Gaddafi regime and handing power to the Transitional National Council, while simultaneously taming and putting a pro- western stamp on the Libyan Revolution. Meanwhile the Saudis, in what was probably a coordinated move, marched into neighbouring Bahrain and crushed the revolution.

Nevertheless the Arab Spring was by no means exhausted. Mass struggles escalated in Yemen and then in Syria, struggles which continue, at the cost of thousands of martyrs, to this day. In both cases the dictators, Saleh in Yemen and Azzad in Syria, clung on with great brutality and determination, and in both cases the popular movement has shown immense courage and resilience with the result that in both there has been a kind of deadly stalemate. At the time of writing the regimes appear to be slowly disintegrating, but so far the revolutions have not yet seen the mass strikes that were decisive in Egypt. At the same time there are rumblings of revolt in Saudi Arabia itself.

On 15 May things took a different turn. The spirit of Tahrir Square leaped across the Mediterranean to Spain when thousands of protesters set up camp in Puerta del Sol in Madrid, proclaiming that ‘They (the politicians) don’t represent us!’ and demanding ‘Real democracy now’. When the police beat the protesters the movement took off like wildfire and squares right across the Spanish state were occupied, with hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, mobilised in their support. As they said ‘Nobody expected the Spanish Revolution’.

Next, less surprisingly, the revolt started to interact with the already high level of workers’ resistance in Greece. More mass demonstrations, riots, and general strikes followed as the crisis of Greek capitalism rapidly intensified.

Another unexpected development in the Summer was outbreak of mass protests over housing and other issues in Israel. Then in September the struggle made the leap across the Atlantic in the shape of Occupy Wall St. Again it was police repression, especially the arrest of 700 demonstrators on Brooklyn Bridge on 1 October, which fuelled the flames and led to ‘Occupies’ across America. Crucially organised labour identified with and actively supported the struggle, producing the highpoint of the Oakland General Strike of 2 November.

In Britain the struggle has also been rising. The past year has seen mass student protests, a 750,000 strong trade union anti-cuts demo in March, a big public sector strike on 30 June, the August riots, and now an even bigger strike on November 30. With 2 million workers out this was the largest strike since 1926, won huge popular support [61% according to a BBC poll] and was accompanied by unprecedented demonstrations nationwide, eg 20,000 in Bristol, 10,000 in Brighton, 10,000 in Dundee. In Northern Ireland there was the important development of 10,000 or so Catholic and Protestant workers uniting in Belfast. The week before there was the small matter of a general strike in Portugal.

While all this has been happening the Egyptian revolution has deepened and developed. From a struggle against Mubarak it has become a struggle against the military, the independent unions have grown and – so far- all attempts to crush the movement by force have been heroically repelled.

The explanation for this global tidal wave of revolt is essentially very simple. The international capitalist system is in profound crisis and the 1%, the ruling class, everywhere is trying to make the rest of us pay for it and in place after place people are fighting back. From Tahrir to Oakland we are feeding on the inspiration of each other’s resistance. Confidence is rising and for the first time in a generation revolution is back on the agenda.

For us in Ireland this raises a question. We have been hit harder than most by the crisis and attacks of the 1%, so why has there not so far been mass revolt? In February we saw an expression of mass discontent at the ballot box with the election of 5 United Left Alliance TDs but there have not yet been masses on the streets. The answer seems to lie in the interaction of three factors- the legacy of the Celtic tiger, the years of trade union/government social partnership and the shameful refusal of the union leaders to initiate resistance – which together have led to a certain mood of bitter resignation.

But here we need to remember that in any wave of struggle, 1848, 1968 or 2011, there are always places or times when little seems to be happening – not just Ireland but Sweden and Russia for example (though there is unrest growing in China) – and this can easily change.[Since this was written, as if to prove the point, mass protests against Putin have erupted from Moscow to Vladivostok} ‘Nobody expected,’ Tunisia or Egypt or Spain or Occupy Wall St. And resignation is not agreement, it suddenly turn into its opposite when an unforeseen spark gives people the confidence that what they do will make a difference.

One thing is certain the year and years to come will see many such sparks. The economic crisis of capitalism, merging with the crisis of climate change is rapidly becoming a crisis of the whole of humanity. So the great slogan of Tahrir Square ‘Revolution until Victory!’ has the potential and need to become a slogan for us all.

2011-12-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

PERSONAL

MOLLY DEBATES THE INSANE

Most of Molly's "action" is now over at her Facebook site. Over there there is an interesting "debate" if you can call it such. The substance concerens the "torching" of a cop car by supposed anarchists at a recent demonstration about the rigged Russian election. Anarchists certainly took part in the demonstration against the rigged elections. What I await confirmation of, given the police set-up that led to the torching of three police cars in Toronto, is verification from the REAL anarchist organizations in Russia. We'll see. If it is true it is an act of stupidity. If not true it is one more example of how low the Russian government can sink.

2011-12-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

PERSONAL:

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT PART FIVE:

One thing I am certain of about the Occupy Movement (much more certain than how it will all end up) is that it has finally leapfrogged over the leftist concerns of the last few decades and their petty territorial politics. Those who are not leftists will be puzzled by this formulation. Others who are comfortable in leftist ghettos will be offended. Many of us who identify with a "left tradition"will be more than happy that someone has broken the silence.

What do I mean by the puzzling formulation above ? I mean that the "left" in the past few decades has surrendered any hope of reaching the majority and has become quite comfortable with drawing academic income (or worse quango income). For its personal comfort it has abandoned any idea of large scale social change and has become satisfied with the- let's call them for what they are- "opportunities for corruption". All that is required is to continue to pump out the same old propaganda about the "unique oppression" of social group a to m.

Yeah it makes money for some, but that's all it does. Suddenly there comes a political movement out of nowhere that deliberately tries to address the vast majority of the population and their concerns. WOW; it's like being transported 70 years into the past.

Will it last ? Your guess is as good as mine. The Occupy Movement walks a tightrope between the hell of political co-option and the opposite hell of ineffective militancy. It's a golden mean. Wish them luck.

2011-12-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

CANADIAN POLITICS:

THE RICH GET RICHER:

Oh my, is this "news" ? During good times the rich pull ahead as they manage to grab the fruits of expansion. In bad times guess what ? They keep pulling ahead. Good or bad they will get their paws into the till. Here's an interesting item about the widening of inequality here in Canada.

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Canada’s wage gap at record high: OECD
tavia grant
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Dec. 05, 2011 5:00AM EST
Last updated Monday, Dec. 05, 2011 7:56AM EST
The gap between Canada’s rich and poor is growing amid shifts in the job market and tax cuts for the wealthy, according to a study that shows income inequality at a record high among industrialized nations.

A sweeping OECD analysis to be released Monday shows the income gap in Canada is well above the 34-country average, though still not as extreme as in the United States.

Income inequality is a hot topic these days, as mirrored by the Occupy movement’s concerns over the growing gap between the rich and the rest. Protesters aren’t the only ones preoccupied with the disparity; prominent figures from Warren Buffett to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz have also fretted over the growing gap, exacerbated by the recession and weak recovery.

“Income inequality increased during both recessionary and boom periods, and it has increased despite employment growth,” said Stefano Scarpetto, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s deputy director of employment, labour and social affairs, during a presentation of the report.

A growing wage gap carries significant economic consequences. Countries with greater income inequality tend to see shorter, less sustained periods of economic growth, an IMF paper this fall concluded.

“Greater inequality raises economic, political and ethical challenges as it risks leaving a growing number of people behind in an ever-changing economy,” the OECD paper said.

Its 400-page analysis, entitled Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising, a follow-up study to one released in 2008, delves into reasons behind the growing gap.

Canada in particular has seen a widening chasm since the mid-1990s. OECD research shows the average income of the top 10 per cent of Canadians in 2008 was $103,500 – 10 times than that of the bottom 10 per cent, who had an average income of $10,260, an increase from a ratio of 8 to 1 in the early 1990s.

The richest 1 per cent of Canadians saw their share of total income rise to 13.3 per cent in 2007 from 8.1 per cent in 1980.

Moreover, the richest of the rich – the top 0.1 per cent – saw their share more than double, to 5.3 per cent from 2 per cent. At the same time, the top federal marginal income tax rates tumbled – to 29 per cent in 2010 from 43 per cent in 1981.

Two factors explain Canada’s growing gap: a widening disparity in labour earnings between high- and low-paid workers, and less redistribution.

“Taxes and benefits reduce inequality less in Canada than in most OECD countries,” the study said.

Shifts in the labour market are a key reason why the gap is widening, Mr. Scarpetto said. The prevalence of part-time and temporary contract work is eroding wages. Technological progress has been more beneficial to high-skilled workers, while the gap in men’s earnings in particular is growing ever wider.

The gap in hours worked is growing too, as in other OECD nations. Since the mid-1980s, annual hours of low-wage workers in Canada have fallen to 1,100 hours from 1,300 hours, while those of higher-wage workers fell by less, to 2,100 from 2,200 hours.

Rising self-employment also played a role, as the self-employed typically earn less than other full-time workers. This explains more than one-quarter of the increase, the report said.

Taxation is another factor. Before the mid-1990s, Canada’s tax-benefit system was as effective as those of the Nordic countries in stabilizing equality, offsetting more than 70 per cent of the rise of market-income inequality, the report said. The redistributive effect has declined since then, so that taxes and benefits now offset less than 40 per cent of the rise in inequality.

The OECD report isn’t the only analysis of Canada’s growing income gap. A September study by the Conference Board of Canada found income inequality has been rising more rapidly in Canada than in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. Its analysis of 18 countries found that Canada had the fourth-largest increase in inequality between the mid-1990s and late 2000s.

There are social implications too, with more academic research linking income inequality with poor health outcomes. Last month, a study by Montreal’s public health agency found an 11-year difference in life expectancy between men who live in its poorest neighbourhood and those its richest.

The OECD report makes a slew of suggestions on how to narrow the gap. Taxing the rich more is one, along with closing loopholes and ensuring compliance with tax rules.

More importantly, the report said labour market outcomes could be improved by investing more in people – through education, skills training and job retraining programs. “More and better jobs, enabling people to escape poverty and offering real career prospects, is the most important challenge.”

2011-12-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:
FORUM ON ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND BUSINESS:
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When
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Time
5:00pm until 8:00pm
Where
James W. Burns Executive Education Centre , 177 Lombard Ave (2nd floor), Winnipeg, Manitoba
Description
http://myuminfo.umanitoba.ca/index.asp?sec=712&too=200&eve=8&dat=12%2F8%2F2011&epa=52596
Reception:
Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
What Does “Occupy” Mean to Business and How Should Businesses Respond?
The I.H. Asper School of Business is pleased to invite you to two interactive public forums on Economic Inequality and Business. In the backdrop of public debate on economic inequality, these forums will discuss the relationship between Businesses and Societal Inequality.The public forum will feature a panel of experts speaking on the issue, followed by a moderated discussion with the audience.
Panelists

-Art DeFehr, Founder, Palliser Furniture
- Alan Freeman, Economist
- Michael Benarroch, Dean, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba
- Hari Bapuji, Associate Professor, Asper School of Business, Uof M
- Reg Litz, Professor, Asper School of Business, Uof M - Moderator
Program:
5:00pm - Doors open and reception begins 5:30pm
- Program Begins 7:00pm
- Program concludes and reception resumes
RSVP to Scott McCulloch at 474-6482 or Scott_McCulloch@umanitoba.ca Space is limited, so please RSVP early.For more information, contact:Judy WilsonDir Marketing & CommI H Asper Sch of Business wilsonj0@cc.umanitoba.ca Phone: (204) 474-8960

2011-11-30T19:34:00.000-08:00

PERSONAL:

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT PART 4:

As the various Occupy camps fall one after another (a proof of the need for organization ?) to the various authorities it is perhaps about time to reflect on why these protests have gathered the sort of support that "the left" has failed to gather for decades. There are a lot of reasons, and I hope to comment on them in the future. For now, however, let's examine one of the key factors behind the success of the protests.

One of the key reasons behind the success of Occupy is that they have chosen a path of non-violence. This doesn't mean that they are automatically morally superior. It does, however, mean that they are rational enough to chose the most effective tactics. This really comes under the heading of good advice such as, "don't fart loudly in Church". In other words there is a time and place for everything. It should be obvious, but for some it is not.

I only feel this is noteworthy because I have seen otherwise sensible people disparage the Occupy movement because (rhetoric coming now) "it can't defend itself, as evidenced by the police crackdowns". Such a statement ignores two things. One is the obvious structure of reality that some seem to have been detached from particularly in North America. The simple FACT is that the so-called "self defense" tactics as advocated by that defend the actions of something like the Black Block have failed every single time over and over and over. Not once, not twice, not even 50 times but 100% of the time every time they are tried. At its worst the police let the BB vandalize things for a short period of time for the necessary propaganda value. Then the BB disappears and lets their allies take the heat. At its "best" the BB always loses for at the end of the spectacle the police still control the streets. Proving that you're crazy and you want to lose endless fights is not "self-defense". Some have defined this sort of behavior as a characteristic of insanity.

This disparagement of the Occupy movement is written from an emotional viewpoint, and the best that I can do is advise holders of such opinions to go outside their social circles and see with their own eyes how the vast majority looks on those who appear to be innocent victims of police violence as opposed to gangs fighting the cops and always losing. To their credit the majority of people involved in Occupy recognize that they are doing politics and not psychotherapy. Some may be under delusions about how nasty the police can be. Others may have "moral arguments" for their non-violence, but I really think that at least a large minority and possibly a majority recognize that the picture of police attacking non-violent people is "the shortest way to the goal of gathering public sympathy".

2011-11-30T18:38:00.000-08:00

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

DEMOCRACY VERSUS THE BANKERS:

The following item on the international finamcial crisis is from the Anarkismo website.

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Europe & the Bankers
The limits of democracy in Project Europe

When the Arab peoples began to agitate at the start of the year, European countries quickly began to distance themselves from the dictators they had been nursing for some time, in order to seize the flags of change that the people were demanding in the streets. By doing theis, they sought to calm the clamour for social and economic demands and substitute them with cosmetic democratic reforms, as if the struggles of these peoples had not been about the right to bread but the right for access to the polls. There were some who accused the Europeans and their big brothers in Washington of hypocrisy: while the were "horrified" at the repression in Syria, they supported it openly in Bahrain and Yemen; while they waved the bugbear of radical Islamism in Yemen, they openly supported a regime of jihadists that was seeking to impose sharia law in Libya; while they were demanding the resignation of Assad, they closed one eye to the medieval monarchies of the Emirates, Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. It is absolutely no surprise, since the imperialists (and the USA and EU are imperialists in the classical sense of the term) never act unless it is for a goal that fits in with their own material and geopolitical interests. Hypocrites they may be, but their hypocrisy is fairly predictable.

Others also denounce hypocrisy on the part of the Europeans when they talk about "democracy", seizing this concept too and deforming it at will, when what they were doing was carefully channelling the process of change in the Arab countries in a typically Leopard-esque way ("change everything in order to change nothing"), so that there would be no more open dictatorships but monitored "democracies", with the army as the final custodian of the imperial interests. After all, the only freedom they know how to defend is the freedom of the market [1].

But there were also others again who corrected us saying that the European countries were not hypocrites, but merely contradictory: i.e., that it wasn't that they were not "democratic" in themselves, it was that they had one policy at home and another abroad. Foreign policy was naturally determined by their venal interests, whereas domestic policy was supposedly based on well-rooted democratic values.

It just needed the entrance onto the scene through the Puerta del Sol of the "indignados" in all their glory and majesty for this myth of a democratic Europe to explode. Western democracy, as some call it, works as long as no-one protests. As Chomsky has so dramatically demonstrated, in advanced capitalist societies the real mechanism of control is not so much the police baton as the creation of forced consensus by means of a stifling form of propaganda. Once the people decide to move outside the tight limits on democratic liberties by this small elite that governs, European democracy shows its teeth and imprisons, beats (no-one dares say torture, but it is also this) and even kills. It happened in Genoa ten years ago and it has happened several times in Greece, but the memories of European citizens are fragile things...
The Bankers Coup in Greece
Last week we witnessed a real coup d'état in Greece. When the "social democrat" George Papandreou took the crazy initiative of calling a referendum to decide whether Greece would continue to remain as part of the Euro zone, he was immediately pressurized into quitting. The pressure, naturally, did not come from the Greek people but from the mandarins of the European Union. Why is the EU against a referendum? What can be more democratic than a referendum, where the people get to have a direct say on policies that directly concern both them and the next three generations at least?

The EU's opinion on referendums is all too well known to anyone living in Ireland, where people twice voted against European Treaties (Nice in 2002 and Lisbon in 2008) and on each occasion were forced by Brussels to vote again after being threatened (and not in too roundabout terms) with all sorts of dire consequences ranging from expulsion from the EU to expulsion from the Eurovision Song Contest.

In Greece, they knew that they would have lost the referendum and so it was aborted in the most anti-democratic of ways, showing how they can force an entire people into remaining part of a commercial zone that is bleeding them to death with illegitimate, extortionate debt. They got rid of the social democratic Papandreou and substituted him, without any election, with a certain Lucas Papademos, ex-governor of the Bank of Greece until 2002, then vice-president of the European Central Bank and finally economic adviser to Papandreou. This is the man who was responsible for the transition from the drachma to the euro, who had a leading role in the irresponsible loans to Greek banks and, lastly, who personally promoted the failed economic policies of a government that brought an entire country to ruins. In other words, we are talking about the persons who alone is more responsible than any other for the mess that the Greeks find themselves in today. But the bankers have spoken: they will not accept any hint of "populism" (the word that is used when "democracy" gets results that Capital does not want) and the hard times that are in it demand a strong hand both to control finances and to control the streets, a stong hand for the poor, but a generous hand for the poor speculators... the bankers in power!
Technocrats and liars in power
In the meantime, the Italians have a good many reasons to celebrate the downfall of the pathetic, decadent Berlusconi, who transformed his premiership into nothing short of a reality show, with a little extra spice from sexy showgirls, sex with underage girls and "bunga bunga" parties, all serving to cloak his links with the mafia and the rampant corruption throughout the country. But they have less reason to celebrate their new premier, Mario Monti. His history is similar to Papademos': he was a European Commissioner, an adviser both to Goldman Sachs, speculators extraordinaire, and to the infamous multinational Coca Cola, and he is close to the current president of the ECB, Mario Draghi. We can only guess whose interests he will be serving, albeit perhaps more efficiently than the corrupt clown who has just left office.

In Ireland too the government fell at the end of last year, and in the improvised elections that were held in February, an apparently schizophrenic coalition was elected: Labour (who in Ireland are to the right of Tony Blair) and Fine Gael, a firmly right-wing nationalist party who once even flirted with Nazism, even to the extent of sending men to fight for Franco. They reached office by promising all the usual lovely things that are promised during election campaigns. They promised that they would review the outgoing government's accords with the ECB and renegotiate the rescue plan; they also swore they would not shift the load of the debt onto the shoulders of the poorer parts of society. And in fact, they also lied, as is usual during election campaigns. Not only have they worsened the terms of the rescue package agreed by the previous corrupt government, they have announced further cuts in the next Budget which will hit the poor, social spending and the workers, while the bankers who created the mess continue to receive their millionaire bonuses because - according to Labour - those bonuses were agreed before the crisis started!

These governments will guarantee that this illegitimate debt will continue to be paid, that they will get every last cent out of us before these countries declare themselves bankrupt. There is no other logic to these Structural Adjustment Programmes and cuts in social spending that are strangling internal markets and de-stimulating spending. It's a case of getting everything you can now before the house burns down.
Governments are falling... but where's the alternative?
The tragedy in Europe is that governments are falling but there is no way out of the crisis being indicated by the mobilized people, partly because the popular movement itself is in crisis after decades of social pacts, immobilism and pacification and due to a quite thorough ideological penetration of the bankers' fallacies in every layer of society. There are the struggles in Greece, but so far they haven't proved enough. There are the "indignados" in Spain, but the working class there has only just started to wake up. In Italy and Ireland, protests are practically nonexistent. In Ireland, any mass mobilization is limited to the weekends (so as not to "damage" the economy), and as far away as possible from government buildings, where bankers are reminded of their social responsibility. As soon as the mass mobilizations that challenge the regime begin, what will happen in this (social) democratic Europe, so proud of its civil liberties? We've already had some idea with the experience of the Basques and Northern Ireland, which demonstrate that when democracy doesn't work, they resort to a state of emergency, something which is as much a part of capitalist democracy as the illusion of elections. Don't forget that in March 2009, at the time of what proved to be a flop of a general strike in Ireland, Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, asked the government to militarize the country's airports in order to prevent any union action.

There has not been even the slightest hint of a revolution in Greece and already they've carried out a coup d'état - not a military one, true enough, but a coup nonetheless with a force that is greater than that of arms: the force of the euro. This should be proof enough for all those who still believe in the mantra of liberal values rooted in European society that these things can happen here, too. In the final analysis, capitalism is based on brute force and its exercises in democracy are merely formal, cosmetic. The "indignados" in their camps around Europe are right to demand real democracy, when everyone can see that the decisions that concern all of us are taken in Brussels and by the ECB.

We should of course never forget that there can be no democracy in politics unless there is democracy in economics. As long as the economy (i.e., the organization of the means to guarantee the people's subsistence) is in the hands of a minority, it will be at the service of a minority. And this minority will have power over the others, without having to worry whether it governs by means of referendums or technocrats. This is the basic limit of democracy, sacrosanct private property and this should be the first element that any truly alternative project must challenge if it is to overcome the crisis.

José Antonio Gutiérrez D.

15 November 2011

Article written for Anarkismo.net. Translated by FdCA-International relations office.

[1] On monitored democracies that are being set up under the patronage of the EU and the USA in countries which have deposed their dictators, see the articles I wrote some months ago: http://www.anarkismo.net/article/19017 and http://www.anarkismo.net/article/19142

2011-11-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

LIBERTARIAN SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRUGGLE IN EQYPT:

The following is a document sign by a number of libertarian socialist organizations reiterating their support for the People's Struggle in Egypt. The following is from the Anarkismo website.

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International Libertarian Statement of Solidarity with the Egyptian popular Struggle

On the weekend 19-20th a new wave of mass protest all over Egypt broke out because of the systematic violence of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) against the Egyptian masses. People are tired of its dictatorial behaviour, the use of extreme force against protesters, the military trials that in 10 months have ended up with 12,000 comrades rotting in jail, their censorship, the torture, kidnappings and selective murder of activists. People are tired of the military council hijacking the banners of our revolution to continue the same old dictatorship through other means. People are tired of the sectarianism they promote to divert us from our real fight for justice, equality and freedom.

Imperialism has dictated an "orderly transition" to democracy in Egypt. The military have shown themselves obedient in implementing this design. The people in Egypt demand an end to dictatorship and the uprooting of all the remnants of the hated Mubarak regime. People in Egypt want to feel, at last, that they have a country run by themselves for themselves.

The anarchists in Egypt, and the international solidarity movement with the libertarian revolutionaries, wholeheartedly support the just struggle of the Egyptian people to continue their revolution and deplore the massacre of protesters that shows that the SCAF is no different to Mubarak.

Unlike other sectors that hold illusions about bourgeois democracy, we believe that democracy and the State are irreconcilable. Real democracy was put into practice by the Egyptian people when they formed their popular committees and ran their own communities, their own towns, their own affairs from the bottom up. We call to strengthen these popular committees, we call to decentralise the country, to make every single political position recallable by the committees if they fail the popular mandate.

We also believe that the yearning for democracy is incompatible with the capitalist system, based on the elite control of the economy and the means of life, which condemn 25,000 human beings each day in the world to die of hunger. Real democracy is only possible when all of society democratically runs the economy and the industry of a nation. This requires collective ownership of land and companies and self-management by the workers and peasants themselves. If the few control the wealth of the world, the few will keep having power over the majority. The free market is a more subtle form of dictatorship.

Therefore, we call for the trade unions and the workers to take a leading role in the current struggle, to occupy their workplaces, to turn them into workers' cooperatives and to prepare for the full self-management of the Egyptian economy.

The crisis of Egypt will not be solved with half-hearted solutions. We need the commitment of the youth, of the women, of the working class in order to uproot the sources of tyranny and violence in our country - the capitalist system and the State. Let us all unite under the banner of the struggle against military rule, but let us defend a revolutionary, libertarian option for the Egyptian masses.

25 November 2011

Libertarian Socialist Movement (Egypt)
Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici (Italy)
Organisation Socialiste Libertaire (Switzerland)
Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland)
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (South Africa)
Workers Solidarity Alliance (USA)
Confederación Sindical Solidaridad Obrera (Spain)
Grupo Libertario Vía Libre (Colombia)
Centro de Investigación Libertaria y Educación Popular (Colombia)
Instituto de Ciencias Económicas y de la Autogestión (Spain)
Federación Comunista Libertaria (Chile)
Revista Política y Sociedad (Chile)
Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (Australia
Common Struggle - Libertarian Communist Federation (USA)
Unión Socialista Libertaria (Peru)

Related Link: http://www.anarkismo.net

2011-11-26T15:06:00.000-08:00

LITERATURE:

SO THEY NEVER DID LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER:

I have recently finished 'The Collected Fairy Tales Of Hans Christian Anderson, and am about 80% through 'The Collected Fairy Tales Of The Brothers Grimm'. Lots of things could be said about these collections. The most obvious one is the bourgeois pietism of Anderson which creates a much"grimmer" picture than the bucolic peasants of the Grimm tales.

One little example, however stands out to me. I am reading direct translations from the Danish and German, and guess what ? The phrase "and they lived happily ever after never appears. I suspect it was a Victorian invention to sanitize death out of the originals. Here's a few examples of how the Grimm tales end:

1)"During the rest of their lives the farmer and his wife were tormented by a guilty conscience and spent their days in poverty and misery. (The Poor Boy In The Grave)

2)"The king drowned, but Hans married his daughter and became the king" (The Griffin)

3)"And the ungrateful son had to feed the toad every day; otherwise it would have eaten away part of his face. Thus the son wandered about the world without a moment of rest" (The Ungrateful Son)

The book purlates with such endings, some grimmer than others. About the closest one gets to the traditional fairy tale ending that we grew up with would be statements like, "...and so they lived happily until they died". I'm not a literary historian by any means, and so I am left to wonder when and why the classic fairy tales were bowdlerized.

2011-11-24T17:11:00.000-08:00

TODAY IN HISTORY:

ANNIVERSARY OF 'THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES'

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It was today in 1859 that Charles Darwin published 'The Origin Of Species'. It can be argued that this has been the most influential book of the modern age. Today pretty well anybody involved in the sciences is a "Darwinist". This doesn't just apply to the obvious disciples such as biology, anthropology or archeology. Evolutionary thought is now a paradigm in fields as far apart as cosmology, geology and even chemistry.

Those who refuse evolutionary thought are a tiny minority, at least outside of the USA. On the left there are a tiny number of academics who deny that evolution has anything to do with humans. On the right the USA is the only country in the world where large numbers of people oppose the idea of evolution for religious reasons. In a strange twist of "survival of the fittest" America still has to come to terms with its high class university system bleeding India, Russia, China, Japan and Korea for talent while at the same time religious obscurantism helps to keep the public school system in the USA as substandard.

2011-11-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

FEMINISM/ CANADIAN LABOUR:

EQUAL PAY LAWSUIT SETTLED IN FAVOUR OF WORKERS- 28 YEARS LATER:

Here's an interesting item from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) about a lawsuit initiated 28 years ago demanding equal pay for equal work at Canada Post. I heard about this decision while driving about the city for work today. The internet and print reports add little to the initial report. Basically a 28 year lawsuit was recently settled over different wages paid to women as opposed to men decades ago. Well thanks guys ! There is a lot to be said both pro and con about this decision, but let us assume a sympathy for workers' position. All that Molly can ask is whether this matter would have taken 28 years to resolve if the workers in question had applied direct action ways of pressuring the government ie direct action? It's a thought to think. Here's the bare bones from the Cape Breton Post.

OTTAWA (CP) —

The Supreme Court has handed the Public Service Alliance of Canada a victory in a marathon dispute over pay equity with Canada Post.
Topics :
Canada Post , Supreme Court , Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
In a rare ruling from the bench Thursday, the justices unanimously found for the union in a case that began a generation ago.

PSAC claimed in August 1983 that women were being discriminated against under the Canadian Human Rights Act because they made less than men in comparable Canada Post jobs.
After more than a decade of hearings, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in 2005 that the crown corporation had violated the act and awarded back pay and interest of about $150 million.

But the Federal Court of Appeal set aside the tribunal’s decision, saying the finding of discrimination was not supported.

The justices said reasons for their decision will be available later.

2011-11-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

PERSONAL

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT PART 3

As I've mentioned before, both here and on my Facebook page, the very fact that the movement has refused to set up a list of demands to the power elite is a source of strength not weakness. What the Occupy movement is is a widely based challenge to the very power of that elite to direct society. It is not a delegation ,cap in hand, for whatever meagre reforms the elite my offer. The very lack of clarity that the movement is accused of is actually a formidable strength.

A consequence of this refusal to limit the movement's meaning to a shopping list is the amazing fact that the Occupy movement has touched the "Populist Chord" that the traditional left has been unable to play upon for decades. Looking at the participants one sees a broad cross section of society, and the "99%" slogan has caught on with a population not yet ready to camp out themselves. I have noticed a truly remarkable absence of the usual lefty private language and even the fractious "anti-isms" that doom most leftist movement. Those who have taken up this struggle obviously understand the value of unity, and they act accordingly. This has hardly been the case amongst the left of the last few decades, and it is a welcome breath of fresh air.

This lack of particular demands is actually quite unifying. The Occupy movement doesn't just demand a larger slice of the pie for groups a, b, and c. It says there is a whole different and better way to cook pies.

2011-10-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

PERSONAL

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT (PART 2):

The first part of this series was published over at my Facebook page a little while ago. Yet a movement such as the 'Occupy' protests deserves far more than one comment. There is little doubt that this has become the most extensive political movement of the last century even if the number of participants says that it is not as intensive as many others. Yet, without plan, direction or control a worldwide movement has arisen that directly challenges class society worldwide. While anarchists, especially in Spain, have been at the forefront of this movement and while anarchist methods of organizing have become the accepted standard of the protesters it would be utterly false to say that this is solely an "anarchist movement". The central themes of the movement have been those that anarchism shares with a broad left consensus. The only "point of pride" is that anarchists have shown the way to a much broader constituency that actually extends far beyond the traditional left. This is "propaganda of the deed" at its best, without self-destructive violent acts, without the illusion of provoking an immediate uprising and without the arrogant supposition that the so-called "revolutionary vanguard" (cough, cough) are the posessors of all truth. In other words the Occupy movement is amazingly morally clean for a protest movement.

But one thing I would like to point out now is how what seems to external observers as a fault is actually a virtue. I am hardly the first to point this out, and I would like to refer the reader to the Bureau of Public Secrets website for a much more thorough discussion. What I refer to is a very frequent so-called "criticism" of the Occupy movement as to its lack of "specific demands" and it seeming to be a collection point for a wide spectrum of grievances. All that I can say to this criticism is that it is "true" but it misses the point entirely. The Occupy movement has arisen as a broad protest against the inequalities and injustices of our present class societies. OF COURSE every interest group and demand will attach themselves to such a broad based movement. Perhaps even some of their activists will recognize the fact that their grievances cannot generally be solved under the present socioeconomic system.

Thus they attach themselves to a movement that (metaphorically) goes for the jugular because of the insufficiencies of their single interest group/issue groups. Make no mistake about it, the Occupy movement has "gone for the jugular". What it presents in a world diluted manner is the challenge to the representative "democracy" that revolutionary movements have laid out for almost 150 years (since the Paris Commune) ie the challenge of "direct democracy". This goes far beyond any simple reforms. It is not the question of whether the billionaires will pay their fair share of taxes. It is a question of how ordinary citizens can have enough influence to prevent any such perversions of law occuring.

The Occupy movement merely seems incoherant because its goals are far removed from what is usually considered "politics" in our societies. Its basic message is not this or that reform but rather a totally new way of "doing politics". The Movement Is The Message.

2011-10-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

CANADIAN POLITICS:

STOP PUBLIC HOUSING PRIVATIZATION IN ONTARIO:

The following appeal is from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

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Stop the Sell Off of Toronto Community Housing!‏
STOP THE SELL OFF OF TORONTO HOUSING!

Statement from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty www.ocap.ca

In a move that falls in line with the plans of Rob Ford, Toronto CommunityHousing is looking to sell off close to 1000 homes. The money raised in the sale would, we are told, go to meet the $600 million repair bill that years of neglect have created in public housing owned and operated by the City of Toronto. The sell off will involve ‘stand alone’ homes throughout the City.

Tens of thousands of desperate people sit on the 10 years’ long waiting list for rent geared to income housing in this City and the housing authority is now looking to sell off a major portion of this precious resource. Displaced tenants will have to be moved into units presently standing idle, that will be renovated with the money from the sale. This will mean that few people on the waiting list will get housed while the stock of public housing is reduced massively.

As bad as this move is, for Rob Ford and his allies, this is only a first move. They will carry on until public housing is entirely privatized.

This attack is a major part of an austerity agenda to destroy public services in Toronto and it has to be fought. TCH tenants and their allies must mobilize to stop the sale and defend their homes.

On Friday, October 21, from 9.00 AM to 2.00 PM, the TCH Board is meeting at their main offices at 931 Yonge Street. A call has been issued for people to make deputations to the Board by Tenants for Social Housing which we are including with this statement. However, it is beyond doubt that the fight will continue beyond this Friday and a serious and determined struggle on this vital issue will have to be taken up.

Join Toronto Stop the Cuts Network in the fight-back against city cuts!

Join a neighborhood committee or start a new one! www.torontostopthecuts.com

www.facebook.com/stopthecuts tostopthecuts@gmail.com http://www.youtube.com/user/TOstopthecuts

twitter.com/tostopthecuts

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Join with the Tenants for Social Housing - We Are Not for Sale Mobilization:

Stop the Sell Off of Social Housing - We are Not for Sale!

Toronto Community Housing Corporation Board Meeting

THIS Friday October 21, 9 am to 2 pm 931 Yonge Street

TCHC will be recommending the sale of your home and over 1,000 more at a Board meeting on Friday, October 21. We still have a chance to stop the sale of our homes and the dismantling of our communities!

• Register to make a deputation at the Board meeting by emailjanice.lewkoski@torontohousing.ca or call 416-981-4232 before October 21,2011.

• Send TCHC CEO Len Koroneos an email at len.koroneos@torontohousing.ca today and let him know that you do not support the sale of our homes! Join tenants at the Board meeting and let TCHC know that We’re Not For Sale!

Link for the report: http://www.torontohousing.ca/webfm_send/7677/1?#

2011-09-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

PERSONAL:

GROWING UP WITHOUT THE STATE:

It's been many many years since I left my old home town. 48 if I count right. I left it at precisely the right time, when I was turning 13. Enough of "being one with nature". Time to get into some serious trouble. Which, of course, I found in the (cough) "beautiful" city of Regina. My purpose in what I write below is to show a life that was as "stateless" as possible, under harsh climatic conditions. A life that was endured and sometimes enjoyed by a diverse mixture of ethnic groups and not just some favoured "oppressed" group. Perhaps the town of my childhood memories doesn't deserve recording. Except for one salient feature. It was a town in an area that never had a functioning and overbearing government. Now it is true that most natives in this part of the world grew up under exactly the same conditions with the difference that they saw more of the cops than we did. They also suffered a lot more from the (triple cough) helping arm of the churches, something that simply couldn't happen in a town where there were 3 distinct churches and education was public and non-demoninational.

So let's start with the obvious ie the police. We saw the RCMP a grand total of one time in the 13 years I lived in said town. Did this mean that we were a community of saints. Obviously not. There was the usual vandalism and petty theft which the community found it could deal with far better on its own than by calling for the 'tender actions' of government. Not that the retaliation wasn't sometimes overdone, but short of cutting off fingers or toes any physical pain is preferable to being cast as raw material for socia1l workers to "reform". The one occasion where the state/government proved itself useful was when one farmer went nuts and killed his wife. He came down to the general store to surrender, and he sat there for the required hours until the RCMP felt it was convenient to pick him up.

I mention this just because it is the most obvious "state function" that comes to people's minds, right up there with firefighters and above education and health care. The point that I want to make is that many of the functions that government now performs were or are provided by other means in the not-so-distant past, Or a little bit beyond the city limits in most provinces where rural firefighting is on a volunteer basis. Many other things such as education or health care could easily be provided via cooperatives rather than government. Sometimes a person may recognize all of this but still draw the line at police and the "justice" system. It seems almost unbelievable that people could do without what radicals call "the oppressive arm of the state". It is, however, true that the vast majority of people in history have lived without police (unless you count the agents of the landlord coming to steal things), and there are those such as myself who grew up in such conditions ie it is a living memory.

This doesn't mean that I think some almost mythical revolution could abolish the need for police, courts and prisons overnight. If I were having coffee with a cop I would admit that people like him or her are needed in the near future. Yet I would also say that it is indeed possible to do without police. More than possible. It is a fact that I can remember in my own life. Yet a change in the way people in a neighbourhood act towards each other is a much more effective remedy for crime than more police even today. What anarchists, at least those in the broad majority tradition of anarchism is not a society without demands and rules. It is a society without a specialized caste who enforce such rules or in the case of our present society also enforce the rules of the more wealthy.

What anarchists propose is perhaps summed up by a very clumsy neologism ie the "smalltownization" of a society that presently lives mostly in cities. This is not some marijuana addled vision from the 60s and 70s where everyone has to "go back to the land" and "pretend" to be indpendent of the wider society. What it means is that urban neighbourhoods could grow to have many of the virtues of a small town (such as its ability to live without police) without some of the vices.

Not that my home town was any anarchist utopia by far. We were connected into the wider society by such things as electricity from Sask Power. The electrical grid came in on the same year as I was born. Before that the town had its own generator like most northern communities have even today. This was also the same year, ironically enough, that they took passenger service on the railway away from the town. I see no reason, however, why a crown corporation such as Sask Power couldn't be run as a cooperative. Many advantages actually. Similarily the Province paid teachers' salaries, something that was different from my father's time when teachers were paid by the local community. Another example of memory of a different life. We actually had a Provincial highway a couple of miles from town, but the road to town was maintained (or not) by the RM as were the dirt trails that led out to various farms.

Then, most importantly, we were connected to the wider society and hence to the state by the fact that our rural economy was built on the availability of gasoline (and also oil for the privileged few who didn't have to depend on wood in the winter). Can the universal availability of hyrdocarbon products be provided outside of the state or big business ? The answer is obviously yes as Co-op service stations are a constant feature of most of the western provinces of Canada. If it is done it is possible.

I have to admit that what I have said may seem like something conservative rather than radical, but I have to say that most "conservatives" are actually quite "progressive" in their desire to clear away all obstacles to the increase in power and wealth of the people they imagine are the "wealth creators". My vision is frankly reactionary in the desire to turn back the clock (or ahead if you like) to a different sort of politics and economy. I stand in the anarchist tradition of such people as Paul Goodman in his book 'Notes Of A Neolithic Conservative'.