HUMOUR:

LAW AND AUTHORITY:

Please click the graphic above for better viewing of the cartoon.

LOCAL NEWS WINNIPEG:

ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY BROOM:


Ah Winnipeg mon amour. Like pretty well every other burg with a population greater than three people and one dog Winnipeg has its "boosters". Sometimes they actually make a good "score" in terms of publicity as in the ever cost escalating Museum of Human Rights. Such things, however, rarely live up to even 1/10th of the original hype. What Winnipeg is is basically a city that failed to live up to its original promise and which has drifted ever since. This may not necessarily be a bad thing as the consequences of "greatness" can often be negative rather than positive. Winnipeg is also unique in Canada as being in the only province where the capital city accounts for 2/3rds of the provincial population. Only St. john's and Newfoundland comes even vaguely close. This may also be good as it is an early start towards the idea of Winnipeg as a self- governing "city state".


That being said the efforts of the "civic boosters" are even more patently absurd in a place like Winnipeg. No, this place will never be the first choice for a neurosurgeon's convention, though it is in the running against Bedrock for holding the next convention of the Imperial Order of the Water Buffalo. Now I don't say that Winnipeg is the deepest pit in Canada. Far from it. I spent 14 years in "beautiful" downtown Regina, and if efforts to promote Winnipeg may be termed "pathetic" then efforts to promote Regina might qualify as "crimes against humanity". Winnipeg's "firsts" include its long running title as "car theft capital of Canada" in which it surpasses almost all American cities. It is also always in the running for "murder capital of Canada" even when you include the pest holes that are less than half a million in population. In this, of course, there are many American cities that top anything Canada may have.


Still, believe it or not I actually like Winnipeg, and not just because I know of places that are worse. It has its virtues, and one of them is that the average citizen knows enough to treat the boosters with the mockery they deserve. It's a place of common sense in other words. There are many other places where the population generally believes the Chamber of Commerce booster bullshit. The "unofficial anthem" of this ville is the Weakerthans' 'I hate Winnipeg', and even our Mayor (Sneaky) Sammy Katz has enough of a Winnipeger's sense of humour to like this tune. Says something. Says a lot.


Now the efforts of the civic boosters may be futile in terms of attracting tourist dollars. Most of them revolve around the concept of of "being within driving distance of something actually worth visiting" anyways. Despite this Winnipeg has repeatedly received worldwide publicity in the last month due to three incidents, all of them ,of course, connected more or less with (ahem) "sex". One of them, reported previously here at Molly's Blog, is the case of Pizzeria Gusto where the firing of the chef was connected with a supposedly salacious tell all book by a community college student. Reality beats reality TV in this case, and the student's future career is firmly established. She's probably selling rights in New York as we speak. Then there was the "lap dance heard round the world" where the "pep rally" antics of two teachers went viral on You Tube. Finally, there is what follows, a replay of the old buggery in the private school story (told for the 250,000th time), about criminal events at the St. John's Ravenscourt boarding school. What can I say ? Winnipeg may not be able to support a major league hockey team, but it seems we can support a major league humping team.


The story below from our local paper the Winnipeg Free Press tells the latest news about the case with four students and ex-students charged and the police in "search" of two others". As a bit of a "backgrounder" to our non-Winnipeg readers St. John's Ravenscourt is a private school established by the Anglican Church (though I think it is independent today). To our British readers "private school" in Canada equals "public school" in England. To everyone else the reverse is the case. The criminal charges involve senior students swarming younger ones, stripping them down and either actually sticking a stick up their asses or threatening to do so. One can imagine the adolescent hard-ons in the mob that participates. Sexy, sexy, sexy.


Now you have to understand that private schools in Canada are very much like private schools elsewhere in the "anglosphere". They are places where the ruling class sends their miserable little progeny for training on how to be...members of the ruling class. Stands to reason doesn't it ? As such one can only speculate whether the Winnipeg City Police (not the largest outfit in the world) will ever catch up with the two others they are looking for. The 'Reginalds' and the 'Percivals' may be enjoying Tuscan skies as we speak. I wonder what the weather is like in Provence this time of year ?


Now there are lots of other things that one may speculate on. How much of the "tradition" of this sort of thing comes from the old idea of the English boarding school ? The British Empire (now happily deceased) was ,after all, founded on buggery, maintained on buggery and died with its bad thing in the wrong place. I may be wrong, but I'd say less than you might imagine. I put this down to a failure on the part of teachers in such places in imparting good English usage to their students. The students at such places are, of course, being trained as members of the ruling class, to do exactly what they did to the younger students to the working class. The problem revolves around the fact that their teachers haven't been able to communicate the difference between literal and figurative to the little Lords. Time for some serious "in-service" ( a greater term of evasion I have never heard) for these "educators".


Then there's another problem here that I brought up with the wife over dinner last night. Being part of the "onlooking mob" is actually a criminal act even if you never personally shove the stick up the ass yourself. Oh Oh !! What percentage of the senior students actually took part in these little fun and games ? Can you say close to 100%, excluding the nerd that nobody else wanted anything to do with ? Can you actually charge the entire progeny of the province's ruling class ? Think about it. The whole idea is absurd. It's about on the level of declaring an anarcho-communist society tomorrow. So, if nothing else, as the actual law will be ignored in this case, this is one more demonstration of how "law" actually operates in our society.


Oh, lest you think I forgot. here's the news item.
WWWWWWWWWWWW
Police seek more suspects
Judge orders two accused youths to surrender passports
By: Kevin Rollason and Gabrielle Giroday

Winnipeg police are looking for two more St. John's-Ravenscourt School students as suspects in a sexual-assault investigation that has already led to the arrests of four students.

And a judge has ordered two of the accused youths who were granted bail Thursday to turn in their passports over fears they might flee the country.

Three are youths who appeared at the Manitoba Youth Court on Thursday. An 18-year-old suspect, a student from China in his second year at SJR, was charged as an adult. He has no prior record.

The accused appeared by video from the Winnipeg Remand Centre but said nothing. He remains in custody there.

Eight days after a student first talked to school officials, police charged four teens Thursday with sexual assault with a weapon, forcible confinement, and uttering threats.

It's alleged the senior boarding students threatened the younger male boarders, holding them down and placing a wooden stick up against their buttocks, sometime during the fall session between September and December. As many as 15 students may have been targeted.

Police said the charges were based on an interview with one victim Wednesday, and more charges are pending.

"There are a number of victims, or possible victims, that will be interviewed in the near future," said city police spokeswoman Const. Jackie Chaput.

CFS will also be investigating the school.

"We want to make sure that this investigation is conducted as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. We don't want to put any undue pressure on other potential victims that are out there," she said.

Chaput said the WPS child-abuse and sex-crimes units are handling the investigation.

"It's clearly another level of concern," said Stephen Johnson, head of the elite private school in Fort Garry. "Those are very serious charges."

A letter to parents last Friday said two students were to face a disciplinary committee and two students were suspended for five days in connection after information emerged "students were assaulting other students in boarding."

At least four boys from grades eight, nine, 10 and 11 were affected, said Johnson.

"It just redoubles our efforts to make sure we work with our boys in boarding and the boarding staff to get to the bottom of what happened," said Johnson. "Whether it was four or 14 (victims), it doesn't matter, it's still a problem."

Johnson said school officials did not delay giving information to police before officers arrested and charged the four students.

He said additional information from an internal SJR investigation was turned over to police on Tuesday, after school officials asked officers to put down what they needed in writing.

Johnson said legal counsel instructed the school to consult with the affected families before going to police.

The two suspended students will be able to continue their studies, and the two who withdrew will be able to get an SJR diploma through online work and distance education.

Two of the accused voluntarily withdrew from the school Tuesday after a disciplinary committee recommended expulsion.

Two more, who were suspended for five days last week, will not be allowed to return to school until CFS officials clear it.

A source said the charges announced Thursday relate to a single incident involving a roommate of one of the four teen suspects. The charges only came to light after an SJR teacher allegedly overheard a remark made by an SJR student that led to further questions, said the source.

As of Thursday, the victim and one of the accused were still friends on the social-networking site Facebook.

Parents at the school originally learned of the allegations last Friday after a letter was sent about an assault. A letter this Monday said police had been contacted, after school officials spoke to the affected families.

One St. John's-Ravenscourt parent said he was "disgusted" with the way the incident was handled and is investigating other schools. Parents were asked by St. John's-Ravenscourt not to speak to the media.

"I don't know what the hell they were waiting for," he said.

A letter sent to SJR parents Thursday afternoon said none of the accused students was allowed back in the school.

"Police still have more interviews to do with students and there may be more charges laid against these four individuals resulting from those interviews," said the letter.

It continues later: "As you can imagine our boarders have families living halfway across the world and speak many languages. Keeping the parents of the affected children informed and getting parental permission at different steps in the process takes time and patience."

Sheldon Pinx, who represents the adult charged, said his client is anxious to proceed with a bail hearing, possibly this afternoon.

"He's never been in this kind of a situation before," said Pinx, who had wanted to have a bail hearing Thursday. The Crown, however, asked for a one-day adjournment, after apparently getting a package of material from police just 10 minutes before court, with other materials still to come.

Pinx said all he had is a two-page summary of the case. "We're waiting on a significant amount of disclosure, which hasn't been sent over to us yet."

He has no family in Winnipeg, but does have good family and friends here who will be supporting him as part of the bail plan, Pinx said.

Pinx said a special hearing may go as early as 2 p.m. today, although he conceded it could be pushed to next week if he still doesn't have disclosure and the Crown is not consenting.

Meanwhile, at the Manitoba Youth Centre on Thursday, the three suspects looked calm as they listened to the proceedings. At the side of the courtroom, the parents of one of the youths and a family member of the third looked sad during the hearing.

Judge Sid Lerner agreed to let all three out on bail as long as they agreed to certain conditions, including the surrendering of their passports, not having any contact with the alleged victim, not going within two blocks of the private school, making weekly personal appearances with justice officials and putting up $10,000 sureties.

-- with files from Mike McIntyre

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

RELIGION:
RICHARD DAWKINS WANTS TO ARREST THE POPE:



The famous atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has launched a rather absurdist "public conspiracy" to arrest the Pope during his upcoming visit to Britain. Dawkins believes ( or maybe not) that the Pope can be charged under the same sort of international law that led to the arrest of ex-dictator of Chile Augusto Pinochet when he visited Britain. Personally I think this is a publicity grab. Not that I don't think that Pope Rottweiler is guilty, guilty, guilty,guilty beyond measure. It would strain credibility to imagine that in all his years as head of the Holy Inquisition where all such charges end up that he was not involved in dozens and dozens of cover-ups. Still, from a purely legalistic point of view, the sort of crimes that Ratzinger is guilty of have never figured in any international court proceeding before. Thus I have my doubts. Still this is one more drop of vinegar in Ratzinger's upcoming visit. Here's the story from the Times of London.
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Richard Dawkins:
I will arrest Pope Benedict
RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.

Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.

The Pope was embroiled in new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed arguing that the “good of the universal church” should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offences against two boys. It was dated 1985, when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases.

Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations.

They have commissioned the barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, to present a justification for legal action.

The lawyers believe they can ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, launch their own civil action against him or refer his case to the International Criminal Court.

Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, said: “This is a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence.”

Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, said: “This man is not above or outside the law. The institutionalised concealment of child rape is a crime under any law and demands not private ceremonies of repentance or church-funded payoffs, but justice and punishment."

Last year pro-Palestinian activists persuaded a British judge to issue an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, the Israeli politician, for offences allegedly committed during the 2008-09 conflict in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn after Livni cancelled her planned trip to the UK.

“There is every possibility of legal action against the Pope occurring,” said Stephens. “Geoffrey and I have both come to the view that the Vatican is not actually a state in international law. It is not recognised by the UN, it does not have borders that are policed and its relations are not of a full diplomatic nature.”

CANADIAN LABOUR/CANADIAN POLITICS:
NORTEL PENSIONERS DEMONSTRATE IN OTTAWA:
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The Golden Boy of Canadian business, Nortel, is all washed up. The vultures are circling, and it's all down to who actually gets some money off the deadbeat. As per usual it is workers and former workers who will get the short end of the stick as the benefits for which they traded the cold hard cash of wage increases are as worthless now as a politician's promise. Last Wednesday, October 21, retirees from Nortel and their labour supporters demonstrated in Ottawa because the pension obligations of companies that go bankrupt are, by law, well behind the payouts to other creditors. This hardly seems just as the workers of such companies are definitely the least able of all creditors to absorb the loss. In a climate where business bankruptcies are becoming increasingly common the question of pension guarantees has become an increasingly important one for labour. Here's a story from the CEP Union website about the demonstration.

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Nortel pension rally draws 4,000:

OTTAWA (October 21, 2009) – CEP members were among the 4,000 workers and retirees who converged on Parliament Hill today to send the federal government a message that it needs to act now to change the legislation that sets out who gets paid when companies file for bankruptcy protection.










Thousands of CEP members are worried about their pension plans following bankruptcy filings by AbitibiBowater, Fraser Papers and Canwest. As it stands now, when an employer files for protection under the CCAA, workers go to the back of the line, behind other creditors, like banks and suppliers.










The demonstration was organized by Nortel retirees and former employees, who were joined by members of CEP, the CAW, Teamsters Canada and the Congress of Union Retirees.










“It’s important that the government understands that Nortel workers do not stand alone on this issue,” President Coles told the crowd. “Everyone who gets or is expecting a pension should be concerned…. And we are not just complaining,” he said. “We have been trying for months to get decision makers in the federal government to sit down with us and listen to our solutions, but they have refused.”For more information on Labour’s pension campaign and CEP’s proposal for a Pension and Investment Fund, click here.

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And here's another story, this time from CTV Toronto, about the demonstration.

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Nortel pensioners protest bankruptcy laws in Ottawa:
CTV.ca News Staff
Former Nortel employees gathered on Parliament Hill to ask for government help to ensure they continue receiving pension and disability payments - regardless of what happens to the beleaguered telecommunications firm.










Organizers said ex-Nortel employees were bussed in from Montreal and Belleville to attend the demonstration, which took place at noon on Wednesday. They were accompanied by Canadian Auto Workers union members and leaders from several federal opposition parties.










The protesters are seeking amendments to national bankruptcy laws. Their goal is "to give pensioners and people affected by the Nortel insolvency a higher priority ranking in the bankruptcy courts," Don Sproule, chairman of the national committee for Nortel pension plan members, told CTV News Channel on Wednesday.










Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Since then it's been selling off assets. And in June, the company's shares were delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.










Former employees say their pensions are less than 70 per cent covered because the company is in bankruptcy proceedings.










Pensions are a provincial responsibility in Canada. But bankruptcy laws are federal, and the protesters say their pension and disability payments are not protected under the current legislation.










"Right now, unsecured bond holders are treated the same as Canadian seniors who have pensions from their employers," said Diane Urquhart, a financial adviser who has been working with ex-Nortel workers.










Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe, NDP leader Jack Layton and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff were expected to join the protest.










Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Ignatieff said he wanted to thank the Nortel pensioners "for stepping up and making the question of pension security, particularly the question of pension security in the case of bankruptcy, the national issue that it's become."










Ignatieff pledged to work with the group to change federal bankruptcy laws to "make sure this kind of thing never happens again to another Canadian."










Sproule said Nortel is paying out around an average of $12,000 per year for unionized former employees. Former white-collar employees receive approximately $22,000 a year.










"So you take a 30 per cent haircut off that, and it's going to leave people in real hardship, in possible poverty and having to sell their house," he said.










Nearly 20,000 workers have been affected by Nortel's financial troubles, according to Sproule. About 17,500 are pensioners. Another 2,000 were let go without severance, and 450 remain on long-term disability from the company.










"The feds like to talk about how sound our financial system is and how we weathered the financial crisis today because of sound legislation," Sproule said.










"I don't think anyone was watching the store in terms of what was happening to pension plans. This dirty little secret's been going on for a long time. It's only the high-profile cases like Nortel that are causing the issue to percolate to the top again."

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All of the opposition parties claimed sympathy with the demands of the pensioners, though, from Molly's point of view, this "sympathy" is to taken with a grain of salt.neither the Bloc nor the NDP have any expectations of forming a government and actually having to pay the costs of their promises. As for the Liberals their "sincerity" is best estimated by the fact that they have been in power more often than not in the past half century, and when they were in power this sort of issue was always a non-starter.









Pension reform in Canada is long overdue, and there is much more to it than changing the preferences of creditors in the event of bankruptcy, important as that may be. There is a group called the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada that has been organized to look at the larger picture and pressure for a more thorough going reform of our pension system than simply safeguarding pensions in bankruptcy situations. I reproduce a brief excerpt from their position paper below to give a flavour of what they are asking. To read much more about their positions go to their website.

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CONGRESS OF UNION RETIREES DEMANDS:

The Congress of Union Retirees of Canada commits to play a leading role not only in defending what we have gained for ourselves but as important to build on that base in a way that future generations will be able to retire in dignity. To that end, we will lobby governments at the national and provincial level:
1. To hold a national summit on pensions with the full participation of all stakeholders including pensioners.
2. To increase CPP and QPP from 25% to 50% of the average industrial wage
3. To oppose changes in CPP and QPP that would increase the penalty for early retirement.
4. To amend legislation so that pension funds can build up surpluses greater than 110% of expected needs and thereby be better able to deal with market fluctuations, inflation and increased life expectancy.
5. To set up pension guarantee fund(s) nationally and or provincially to cover up to at least $2,500 per month in event of bankruptcy or workplace closure.
6. To raise the GIS by 15% to increase the incomes of the poorest seniors by up to $110 per month.
7. To pass legislation to require participation of retirees in the governance of their pensions.

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An interesting set of proposals, some of them more praiseworthy than others and some more practical than others. The idea of the federal Liberals actually agreeing to such things when in power is, of course almost as absurd as the idea of the present Conservative government ding the same thing. I personally find the last proposal the most interesting and the most in line with a transition to a more libertarian society, though I am at a loss as to the details of what forms such "participation" would take. The proposals are, at least, something concrete, and it is too my sadness that we anarchists have paid little (none???) attention to such issues, beyond referring all solutions to the never-never land of "after the revolution". Hopefully this will be different in the future as the anarchist movement continues to mature.

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM:

BANNING CLOTHESLINES ????:

Here's a bizarre one from down USA way. It seems that "thousands" of communities in the USA have banned the good old fashioned clothesline. Strange stuff, as in many countries in Europe it is the precise opposite ie excessive use of electricity for driers is prohibited and clotheslines are considered a badge of civic responsibility. Hopefully civilization will eventually arrive in all too many US neighbourhoods. What is the cost of an energy sucking clothes drier nowadays ? I don't know because the old clunker in my basement has been running for well over 20 years. As to "property values" the idea of living in a neighbourhood where snoops have the ability to restrict the way you dry your clothes would drop the value of a house by at least 50% for me. It is doubtful that busybodies would restrict themselves to this one item. Case closed. Here's the story from the Care2 site.

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Clotheslines Banned in Thousands of U.S. Communities:
You are officially invited to join the fight to legalize it...again. No, we're not talking about the smokable plant that's gotten so many politicians in hot water. We're talking about the good old fashioned clothes line.

As families all over the nation seek out different ways to reduce their carbon footprint and save money by using less energy, many have decided to return to hanging their clothes outside to dry them. However, many have met with great disappointment when homeowner's associations and community management services have told them the lines are not allowed.

Treehugger.com reports that, "hanging clotheslines was against the rules in so many communities nationwide that state governments are being forced to step in and make it against the law to ban them. ( I like that idea-a law against passing laws. Too bad it isn't generalized-Molly )And states like Vermont and Utah have already succeeded. But the fight for the right to hang clotheslines is just getting started.

"Using an electric clothes drier can account for up to 10% of a household's total energy use, and the EPA and other environmental organizations concerned with energy conservation and energy efficiency have been telling people to purchase Energy Star appliances for years. While this is a good idea on paper, many people aren't financially able to simply go out and upgrade to a fancy new washer and dryer. However, they are being told they can't have simple outdoor clotheslines, which are much cheaper and carbon neutral.

The reason for this clothesline prejudice, at least according to the ones making the rules, is that hanging clothes is unsightly, offensive, and causes property values to drop.

"It's already hard enough to sell a house in this economy," said Frank Rathbun, a spokesman for the national Community Associations Institute, "And when it comes to clotheslines, it should be up to each community association, not state lawmakers, to set rules, much like it is with rules involving parking, architectural guidelines or pets" (via an interview in the NYTimes).

While hanging clothes all over your trees and bushes might not be the best way to make friends with the neighbors, you can hardly call a few t-shirts and pairs of jeans flapping in the breeze an offensive practice...or can you?

Richard Monson, the president of the California Association of Homeowners Associations, told Legal Affairs magazine that a clothesline in a neighborhood can lower property values by 15 percent: "Modern homeowners don't like people's underwear in public. It's just unsightly."( All the worse for "modern homeowners"-Molly )

What do you think?

FEMINISM-OKLAHOMA:

HALF WAY THERE BY THE LAW:

Here's an interesting article from the Care2 site. Seems like down Oklahoma way the ever busy evangelist nuts have managed to pass a law that that will make many details of a woman's abortion publicly available. The 'reasoning' behind such a law is obvious. I urge the readers to go to the Care2 site, not necessarily to read the article which is reprinted below but to read the comments. There are, no doubt, rational arguments against abortion, but, for the life of me, I was unable to find any such thing in the comments that followed the article. Lots of stuff about the 'forces of good' and other rhetoric that would make a Pakistani Taliban member look moderate, but nothing rational. It is no wonder that the USA is the home ground of the worst of irrational political opinion, whatever its ideological cover, from anarchist to religious extremist. I can say, as a long time 'proud hick', that this sort of thing should make anyone not "proud to be an Okie from Muskogee".

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Oklahoma Law Will Publicly Post Details of Women's Abortions Online:
posted by: Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux 2 days ago
On November 1, a law will go into effect in Oklahoma that will post personal details about every abortion performed in the state and post them on the internet. The information will be accessible via a public website, so anyone will be able to access details like the date of the abortion, the county in which the abortion was performed, the age of the mother, her marital status, and her race. Although lawmakers claim that no identifying information will be included, this kind of information could easily be used to pinpoint a woman in a small community.

Proponents of the new law say that it will reduce the number of abortions performed in the state, but I'm not sure how that will work - except by shaming women. "They're really just trying to frighten women out of having abortions," Keri Parks, director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma, told Lynn Harris, who wrote about this Wednesday for Broadsheet. The law's defenders claim that the information will be posted online for "academic" research, but the Center for Reproductive Rights points out that it will be nearly impossible to use the information for that purpose.

The other part of the law is that doctors who refuse to provide this information will face criminal sanctions and loss of their medical license - even though this feels to me like a violation of medical ethics and doctor-patient confidentiality. It also gives doctors a lot more paperwork to do. ( Well yeah, on both counts, especially the former-Molly )

The questionnaire itself does not seem to have pure scientific or sociological research-gathering in mind, as evidenced by questions like "Did the fetus receive anesthetic?" or whether "there was an infant born alive as a result of the abortion." Additionally, the website will cost upwards of “$281,285 the first year and $256,285 each subsequent year”, according to the Tulsa World News. So not only does the website violate privacy, it also will be an enormous money sink in the middle of a recession.

The bill also makes sex-selective abortion illegal, which is another subject entirely. And although I personally am against sex-selective abortion, I agree with Feminists for Choice, who say that "the real problem lies in the government stepping in and placing restrictions on the 'right' reasons for a woman to seek an abortion. It would not be a far step to assume that if the government can restrict the reasons for receiving and/or assisting in the process of an abortion, it could just as easily continue to build on these restrictions until we basically outlaw any and all reasons for seeking an abortion."

Luckily, the Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging on the law that it "covers more than one subject" (not that it violates basic civil rights, but I guess I'll take whatever loophole strikes this law down). This may seem like a bizarre lawsuit, but it worked before, when in 2008 Oklahoma almost became the proud owner of a law that required women to have an ultrasound and have the fetus described to her before she could proceed with an abortion. Hopefully the lawsuit will be successful - otherwise, best not to move to Oklahoma.
Read more: oklahoma, abortion, womens rights

CANADIAN LABOUR MONTRÉAL:

THE RIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE:

The following brief notice is from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The Supreme Court has decided to reject an appeal from various motorists who claimed damages because they were "inconvenienced" by a demonstration of City of Montréal blue collar workers back in 2003. It's nice to know that we do indeed still have the right to demonstrate in Canada. it's sad, however, that this took six years of expensive litigation to prove.

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Supreme Court upholds the right to demonstrate:
October 9, 2009 08:56 AM
Yesterday, the highest court in the land refused to hear appeals from citizens demanding compensation for inconvenience suffered during a demonstration by Montreal blue-collar workers in September 2003.

Initially, the Superior Court had ordered the blue-collar workers to pay a fine of $25 to $35 to 435 people; but subsequently, the Court of Appeal had concluded that the right to travel by car without suffering undue delay does not fall under the Charter of Rights.

The president of the Montreal blue-collar workers’ union (CUPE 301), Michel Parent, welcomed the news. "This Court decision enshrines our right to demonstrate," he said.

CANADIAN LABOUR-ONTARIO/NEWFOUNDLAND:

COMPANY GOES TO LAW IN VALE INCO STRIKE:

It seems like the efforts of strikers to prevent Vale Inco's plans to restart production are having an unsettling effect of the company. At the very least they have made management sit up and take notice. Now, like a scene from 'The Empire Strikes back', Vale Inco is applying for an injunction against members of the United Steelworkers who have prevented shipments of scab ore from reaching company premises (see earlier on this blog). Here's the story from the pages of the Sudbury Star. Stay tuned to the strike support site Fair Deal Now for the latest information on the strike.

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Picketers facing company injunction:
Posted By CAROL MULLIGAN, THE SUDBURY STAR
Striking Steelworkers were ramping up the action at two Vale Inco Ltd. picket lines Monday, as they waited for a Sudbury court judge to hear an injunction Tuesday filed by the mining company against several of their members.

USW Local 6500 picketers at the entrance to Clarabelle Mill and Coleman Mine in Levack warned tempers could flare if a judge agrees with Vale Inco that dozens of strikers have been violating protocol by stopping trucks owned by the Day Group.

Thursday, strikers at Frood- Stobie Mine delayed four ore-filled trucks leaving Frood- Stobie Mine. When the Day drivers arrived at nearby Clarabelle Mill, strikers refused to allow them to deliver their payload. They let the drivers go home, but the trucks have been sidelined ever since.

Vale Inco served summonses against 40 or 50 strikers last week for preventing the delivery of the stockpiled ore from Frood-Stobie.

But the union charges it is Vale Inco violating protocol because the Day trucks were there for a different purpose than was outlined when the protocol was struck early in the strike that began July 13.

Then, Vale Inco indicated people travelling in and out of its Sudbury operations would be involved in care and maintenance and capital projects, said Local 6500 president John Fera.

The situation has changed since Vale Inco announced its intention to resume partial production by mining ore at Garson Ramp and Coleman Mine and shipping it to Clarabelle Mill, said Fera.

The company is also objecting to Coleman Mine picketers delaying vehicles for 15 minutes each, as management, staff and other employees try to get into the mine in the morning to get the operation ready to resume production.

The actions Monday occurred at the start of the 11th week of the strike by more than 3,050 production and maintenance workers in Sudbury.

Serge Savard, a development miner at Coleman, said cars were lined up as far away as the dairy bar in Levack when he arrived for picket duty Monday about 6:30 a. m.

He and fellow picketers held up motorists for 15 minutes each, maintaining it is allowed in their protocol. It was 1 p. m. before the last of the workers were allowed into the operation, he said.

Mike Prevost, a shaft leader at Levack, said most people were cordial. Many stopped their vehicles, put them in park and talked to strikers for 15 or 20 minutes.

"We didn't have to do a thing" to detain them, said Prevost.

Rick Rouleau, a raisebore operator at Creighton Mine, picketed Monday at Coleman because he lives in Levack. He said strikers turned away a full-sized van that did not have side windows because that violates the picket protocol. Vehicles with smoked windows are also not permitted to cross because picketers can't see what is inside them, he said.

"They tell us to look in," said Rouleau, "but I'm not going to look inside and have something fall on my foot or who knows? I don't trust them."

Prevost said Coleman picketers have been slowing vehicles since Thursday. "They broke the injunction, not us," he said of Vale Inco. "We're not going to resort to violence. This is the best way to keep them and this way here, we're trying to get our point across."

Savard said he and his colleagues were warning people on their way into the mine that the work they are being trained for is dangerous.

"There are lots of air blasts," also known as rockbursts, said Savard. Experienced miners know how to "de-stress" the pressure that builds up in rock.

Striker Morley Whitmore said experienced miners "have a sense when it's going to happen. We see the signs."

Whitmore wasn't reassured by what he heard Monday from people trying to get to work at Coleman. Some are office workers, surveyors and engineers training to be hard-rock miners.

"They're telling us what they're doing. Some of them have no (production) experience at all," he said. Whitmore runs a jumbo drill at Frood- Stobie Mine and lives in Levack.

He and the other strikers on picket duty Monday were outraged Vale Inco has begun moving ore from Frood-Stobie to the Clarabelle Mill by train.

Vale Inco spokesman Steve Ball denied that was happening Friday, but later said he was mistaken and one train-load of ore was delivered to the mill. At least one more train travelled from Frood-Stobie to Clarabelle on Monday, said Ball.

Strikers were fuming about that. Those at Clarabelle did not wish to give their names, saying they feared retribution from Vale Inco. But Whitmore and Prevost lashed out at Vale Inco for using people other than 6500 members to load and run the trains because it is their job to do it.

While Prevost wasn't advocating violence at the picket line, he said he was prepared to go to jail for his beliefs.

"I got things I want to do. I want to go to work, too. We were nice at the (bargaining) table. They want to play dirty ball? If the courts turn around and say they favour the company, I'm still out of a job right now. At this point, as far as I'm concerned, whatever happens, happens. If I go to jail, so be it."

Prevost said he would like to see politicians join strikers on the picket line.

"If we're here and we decide to stop anything ... and cops show up and we have a politician with us, I want to see him, I'd like to see that with the cameras and you guys here, seeing that guy get handcuffed with the rest of us going to jail," he said. (Now THAT I must say is a wonderful idea, but don't hold your breath waiting for it-Molly )

Ball said Vale Inco is going to court because it believes "blockading the plants" is against picket-line protocol. So is the length of time vehicles are being delayed.

The company has rights under the protocol to access and exit its plants, he said.

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Meanwhile, out on the East Coast vale Inco is also moving in court against the USW. The following from The Telegram in Saint John's tells how Vale is trying, albeit with improper procedure, to penalize the union over the fact that some of its members walked out of non-striking workplaces last August 28 to protest bad food (see previous item on this blog).

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Vale Inco sues over union 'interference':

MOIRA BAIRD The Telegram
The labour battle between striking Voisey's Bay workers and their employer is headed for the courts.

Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador is suing the United Steel Workers Union (USW) and its Local 9508, for "economic interference" with its contractors during the ongoing strike at Voisey's Bay.

Local 9508 members have been on strike at Voisey's Bay since Aug. 1 - shutting down nickel mining and milling operations in Labrador.

The lawsuit stems from the Aug. 28 walkout at the mine site by contract employees who cited concerns about equipment safety and bad food at Voisey's Bay.

Vale Inco says the "underlying intent was to exert economic pressure" on the company, according to a statement of claim filed earlier this month in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court.

It claims the refusal to work was not based on reasonable grounds as required under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Vale Inco is seeking damages from the USW, though it did not specify a dollar amount.( Which might be difficult as they probably didn't lose a red cent over the affair. All that was hurt was managers' pride-Molly )

Among the damages sought: payments to contractors whose employees are non-striking members of the USW and who "improperly refused to work" last month; damage to Vale Inco's reputation( reputation ???-Molly ); loss of goodwill; exemplary damages, costs and any other relief the court deems just.

The United Steel Workers - which was served Sept. 8 - has yet to file a statement of defence.

Instead, the USW has asked the court to set aside Vale Inco's statement of claim.

In an application filed Sept. 18, the union argues the Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether or not employees were engaged in an unlawful strike.

That task, the union says, falls to the Labour Relations Board, and it notes the company has yet to file an application there.

A hearing on the USW's application is scheduled for late November in Supreme Court.

In its statement of claim, Vale Inco alleges the union interfered with its contracts with the companies that provide maintenance, logistical, catering, housekeeping and security services at Voisey's Bay.

Those employees are non-striking members of the USW.Employees of two of those contractors, Torngait Services Inc. (TSI) and Ushitau Maintenance Ltd., walked off the job Aug. 28.

According to the Vale Inco statement of claim, some of the reasons for the walkout included:equipment safety concerns following the discovery of a cut brake line in a truck (an incident which is under investigation by the RCMP);food-safety concerns following the discovery of an out-of-date fruit cup; threats by a replacement catering worker that he was going to "pee in the soup. (Ahh, it was bit more than that- see previous item on this blog-Molly )

"Vale Inco contends the union "actively coached and directed" its non-striking members to raise these health and safety concerns so contractors would be unable to provide services, according to the court documents.

As a result, Vale Inco says it experienced "loss, expense and inconvenience in its contractual relations" with other companies.

The nickel miner also says it was slandered and defamed by the USW's staff representative, Boyd Bussey, in media reports that the food served to Voisey's Bay workers was unacceptable.

The company has also applied to the court for a preservation order for all the union's electronic records.

If granted, it would require the USW to immediately preserve e-mails, text messages and PIN messages, along with electronic storage media, such as servers, that may contain information related to Vale Inco's lawsuit.

In its application, the company said those records "may be at risk of inadvertent destruction, corruption or modification" as a result of the union's "standard operating information technology protocols.( I wonder what 'protocols' the company uses- Molly )

"A hearing on Vale Inco's application is scheduled for Friday.

Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador had no comment on the ongoing lawsuit Monday.

The United Steel Workers, Local 9508, also had no comment on the lawsuit Monday.

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What can be gleaned from all this legal flim flam ? One thing to note is that, at least, the company's pride seems to have been hurt. They obviously are dead set at winning totally, and nothing else will content them at this time. In other words the tactics have been effective, or the company wouldn't be going through the trouble to go to law.

Another thing to note is that, yes it is obvious, the courts are very much on the side of business in labour disputes. That should hardly come as a surprise. Even if the grounds of a suit are frivilous a corporation can strike out at its workers via legal manouevres that end up costing the workers' unions a significant amount of money just to defend themselves. this is one of the ways that large corporations, in general, defend themselves-or rather "attack"- against not just employees but also the general public. It's a weapon, and when courts are slow and expensive it's a weapon which gives the advantage to the larger opponent.

One other thing, however, should be noted. Legal injunctions preventing workers from barring scabs from a worksite would be non-starters in a society in which it was deemed that workers had 'property rights' in their jobs. I've mentioned this concept before in connection with this same strike. Similarily, in a society where cooperative action on the part of one group in order to help another was considered a cardinal virtue rather than a "violation of contract" lawsuits such as that being attempted in Newfoundland would also be a non-starter. While the courts will probably always be at least somewhat biased towards the upper classes they are, at least, minimally responsive to public opinion. If said opinion changes then it becomes harder and harder for them to step too far in the direction of their friends. This sort of change in public opinion is the long term goal of a libertarian socialist/anarchist organization. It will not be undertaken by a conventional political party, no matter how well intentioned. Such parties inevitably become corrupted the closer they come to power. As regular readers of this blog know I have always been supportive of anarchist organization, and the legitimate task of such organization is long term attempts to influence ordinary people in a consistant (unlike some so-called socialist parties who tack on libertarian rhetoric to bureaucratic empire building) libertarian direction. Without such long term efforts each strike, each struggle becomes an isolated island in a sea of class rule, and no flashy shows of militance will change that.

FROM THE "IF IT AIN'T TRUE IT SHOULD BE" DEPARTMENT:

COPYRIGHT YOUR NAME FOR FUN, PROFIT AND A GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD:

The site Against Monopoly in Molly's list of links is devoted solely to the criticism of "intellectual property" laws. One of these is the law of copyright, and the blog master has found a truly hilarious example on the pages of the My Way news site. Being as they had lots of time on their hands, being as their place of residence was the Oklahoma El Reno federal prison, four inmates copyrighted their names with the help of a Baton Rouge lawyer. They then sued the prison administration for violation of copyright for using their names without authorization. They sent a demand letter to the warden and hired a bailiff to seize his vehicle, freeze his bank accounts and change the lock on his door. When they presumed that these actions had been carried out they sent a second letter demanding that they be let out of jail before negotiating for the release of his property. The scheme, however, fell apart because the presumed bailiff was actually an undercover FBI agent. The inmates and their lawyer are presently facing a number of charges equally creative, imaginative and fantastic as their original plan. Molly's tiny little feline mind boggles at how someone can be charged with "conspiracy" when all their actions are in an open court of law. I'm sure, however, that the Guild of Jailhouse Lawyers will consider this one as worthy of whatever they award in lieu of Academy Awards-for "best comedy"... the "golden file statue" I guess.

Against Monopoly continually brings up examples of the absurdity of ip laws, and this one deserves a comedy award for sure. Molly gives this one 3 chuckles and two guffaws.