INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-SERBIA:

STRIKE WAVE SWEEPS SERBIA:

As we speak there is a wave of strikes across the country of Serbia, one of the successor states to the ex-Yugoslavia. Sad to say these fragments of Yugoslavia which was once a far better socialist alternative to the Russian Empire's so-called "communist" (read managerial ruling class) regimes have proven, post-Tito, as one more example of how a Leninist experiment leads to disaster in the end. Never mind how it has been conclusively!!!! proven that Marxist propaganda can never eliminate ethnic hatreds. That is the saddest thing. What is also sad is that the new ruling class (usually recruiting heavily from the old managers) seems to be repeating the worst patterns of larceny that occurred in the ex-Soviet Union. Those to whom the Serbian state sold assets have been engaged in a systematic pattern of theft, looting the factories, violating contractual obligations, refusing to pay wages for work already done. etc.,etc.,etc.. The word kleptocracy has been coined to describe such behavior in the former communist states and in parts of the Third World.

The following article from the Inter Press Service describes the situation and the response of ordinary Serbian workers to this looting. People won't take this laying down, but the general hope for a "solution" in re-nationalization is, in Molly's opinion a vain hope. The Serbian state is divesting itself of property for many good reasons. Calling for re-nationalization is a vain hope, a dream of a past utopia that never was as good as memory makes it (during Tito's regime Yugoslavia's main export was workers for foreign firms). The anarcho-syndicalist alternative of factory take-overs and reorientation of production is nowhere so obvious as in this sort of situation. While the Serbian anarcho-syndicalists presently lack a website(even though they are quite active) many of the other states near to Serbia have such. Molly urges her readers to consult the 'Other Anarcho-Syndicalist Links' section on this blog for further information on this part of Europe and workers' struggles there.

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BALKANS: Strike Wave Sweeps Serbia:

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Aug 28 (IPS) - A very hot summer of workers' discontent has taken over Serbia. Some 33,000 people go on strike daily in 40 to 45 firms, according to union statistics. They are mostly employees of privatised companies who have not been paid salaries or social and health security benefits for months now.

Since mid-August, protesters have been blocking traffic for hours outside the offices of the Serbian Privatisation Agency and other government buildings in Belgrade.

Earlier this month, in central Serbia, police were called in to remove hundreds of workers who lay down day after day on railway tracks near Lapovo town 150 km south of Belgrade. The now private owner of the company manufacturing spare parts for automobiles and electricity generation has not paid them for months.

In a dramatic case, a worker from the southern Serbian textile factory Raska, 254 km south of Belgrade, cut his finger off in public to protest against a new business owner.

"We are desperate, afraid for our future, betrayed by our new owner," says Stevan Sreckovic from the Ikarbus bus factory in Zemun. "Ours is one of a thousand factories throughout Serbia that have been ruined by privatisation," he told IPS at a protest last week outside the offices of the Serbian Privatisation Agency.

Since the ousting of former leader Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, the Serbian government has relied heavily on privatisation to revitalise the economy. (or simply to pay the bills by selling the family jewels ????-Molly)The state has received some 2.9 billion euros (3.7 billion dollars) through privatisation since 2002.

The government has sold 1,828 public firms, and now only 300 remain to be privatised. That is due by the end of 2009.

The protests this summer point to what workers call "the ugly face of privatisation". They come after the Privatisation Agency admitted in mid- August that of the 1,828 privatisation contracts, 472 - almost 25 percent - have been annulled because the new owners failed to honour the deals.

According to the law on privatisation, the new owners are obliged to pay the government for their newly acquired companies in up to five instalments. They are also obliged to compensate workers they cannot keep in line with an agreement with the Privatisation Agency. The sum mostly ranges from 100 to 800 dollars.

The agency is obliged to monitor developments in newly privatised companies for two years.

"After that, we practically have no further obligations," head of the Privatisation Agency Vladislav Cvetkovic told IPS. "Our task is to prepare privatisation, announce tenders and collect necessary documentation, and to make this part completely transparent."

Analysts say that the state sold many assets hastily because of an urgent need for fresh funds. Most sales were done by early 2006.

"The climate for such sales was very good, and the state filled its coffers with badly needed money," economics professor Milojko Arsic told IPS. "The money was supposed to go to pension fund, further investment in Serbian industry, and bring new jobs."

But things have been going wrong over the past year after the end of supervision by the agency.

In March, machinery from the privatised textile factory Clothing in Leskovac, 282 km south of Belgrade, was taken by its Cypriot owner to Romania earlier this year.

In May, workers from the textile factory 7. Juli in the southern town Kursumlija learnt that their machinery was gone. The Serbian owner apparently sold it abroad as scrap.

"New owners refraining from fulfilling their obligations, such as revitalising production, paying regular salaries and health insurance to workers is surfacing now," analyst Slobodan Kostic told IPS. "This is bringing people to the streets and is leading to strikes."

International consortiums from tax paradises ("tax paradise"- I love that term-Molly )are often involved in purchases. Kostic says many assets were sold to people with a murky past and with murky money.

Several heavy industry machinery and textile factories have been sold to consortiums located in Cayman Islands, Cyprus or Virgin Islands, only later to be made sites for luxurious apartment blocks or shopping malls. ("luxury apartments" and "shopping malls" in Serbia ? Molly senses an extra layer of criminality beyond the obvious here )

The agency says merely that new owners did not meet their obligations. "It is not our job to control financial resources," says Cvetkovic.

A major tycoon sought earlier this year to buy the industrial zone of Belgrade harbour and turn it into a marina to be surrounded by lavish apartment blocks and high rises. Public outcry stopped the sale.

Amidst mounting speculation that privatisation was not regular in many cases, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic (not related to Vladislav Cvetkovic), who was head of the Privatisation Agency in 2003 and 2004, admitted to reporters last week that "by the end of that period we became aware that something was wrong." He did not elaborate.

"I will personally insist that all the contracts that have been annulled be checked," he added. But to many workers this is not enough.

The striking workers have their critics. "What we hear more often now among workers' demands in strikes is calls for the state to take over their companies," Miroslav Prokopijevic from the Free Market Centre told IPS. The Centre is one of the leading Serbian NGOs backing a free market economy. ( Welllllll...Molly has given her opinion of this above. )

"That sounds like the times of socialism (the Serbian and former Yugoslav version of communism), when the state took care of everything, and provided lifelong guarantee of employment, but those times cannot come back," he said.

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MOLLY NOTES:

Just for amusement let's do a little cross cultural survey of what would be labour's response to such things in various countries. Let's begin at the bottom. The usual American (in a country where you sue a restaurant if you spill hot coffee on yourself) response would be a lawsuit. Up here in Canada there would be an endless series of appeals to this that and the other government agency, punctuated with a possible battle on the picket lines and a stirring resolution from the NDP. The whole matter would be eventually be exhausted by endless debate. Over in Italy they'd have their riot and rapidly move on to the next occasion. Down in the land of the tango the factory in question would have been occupied a long time ago, and the present battle would be about its legalization. Over in France the factory would have been occupied and the managers kidnapped. Not so bad actually, as they would get to eat really good cheese and drink really good wine (no McDonald's fare for those hostages) until a compromise was worked out. In Korea the factory would have been occupied, and this would have provoked the government to send a para-military force to recover it. In China the workers would have rioted and killed the managers. All told I prefer the Argentinian solution. Can it be used elsewhere ? I certainly hope so.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT/ANARCHIST MAGAZINES:

LA LIBERTAD NUMBER 10:

Molly has often mentioned how the ideas of anarchism are spreading and turning up in areas where they have been long fallow and even in parts of the world where they had little currency before. South and Central America are, of course, not virgin territory in terms of anarchist ideas, but it has still been gratifying to see how anarchism is once more setting down roots in areas where it was once so strong. Not so long ago Molly announced the web debut of groups from Peru and Bolivia. Now here's an announcement from Costa Rica. This country has been mentioned here before, but the group involved seemed to be dormant. Now their magazine La Libertad is out and about in its 10th edition.

The following is an English translation from the orginal Spanish which appeared at THIS LINK on the Anarkismo site.

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[Costa Rica] La Libertad 10 hits the streets:

Better late than never ...

To the community of our readers , the most sincere of apologies: Much has happened to the editorial team of La Libertad, new spaces have opened and others have unfortunately closed . We have had to undertake a restructuring process, at both the personal and group level. If not for the support of many people who have demonstrated their love for this project, there would have been no new issue. A thank you to everyone.

** Editorial

**Notes on Costa Rican unionism

**Speech and Action

**May 1, repression and anarchist memory

** Anarchism in El Salvador

**Augusto Cesar Sandino, a free man

**Validity of anarchist thinking in Costa Rica

**Paradoxes of work

**Health, an approach to a social problem from an emergency service

**The ego, anarchism and the rules of living

**The insurgent

**Bitter Humor

Those who are interested in distributing our publication please communicate by email.

Costa Rica 500 colones

Foreign: $ 1 or 1 euro

Salud y libertad

Related Link: http://lalibertadcr.wordpress.com /

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
THE HISTORY OF NEFAC IN QUÉBEC CITY (PART 9- THE CONCLUSION):
Here it is. Part 9, the concluding chapter of Molly's translation of the History of NEFAC in Québec City. I have to say that I am quite pleased at finally coming to the end of this task. I will later correlate all the pieces into a complete article.
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A balance sheet?

While it is too early to draw a comprehensive balance sheet of NEFAC (in Québec City, and in the province of Québec), one can nevertheless find some items that are food for thought.







In the first place , the presence of an anarchist group active for almost ten years is perhaps not spectacular, but it is in itself an important achievement, at least in our political context. The present libertarian current is not the first in Quebec, but it suffers from a flagrant lack of continuity through time. Through its various mutations, NEFAC has managed to grow and renew itself before, during and after several moments of important social struggle in which we participated, from the Quebec Summit and Youth through the Summit of the Americas to student , trade union and popular struggles in recent years. This continuity has allowed the group and its members to develop, and to gain experience and political maturity.







The commitment of many libertarians, including members of NEFAC, in social movements has acted to demystify anarchism to many activists, particularly in popular groups in the region of Québec. The production of a weekly radio broadcast and website activity, the distribution of tens of thousands of leaflets, newspapers, posters, books and brochures, as well as holding dozens of conferences and workshops have certainly helped raise awareness of anarchism and libertarian principles significantly in different mileaux. Several campaigns took off like that on the issue of theft in the popular neighborhoods or those on the elections (which were particularly numerous!).







But we must face the obvious: such activity is not sufficient to gain the support of many people for a political organization like ours. The "turnover" remains important, even on our (small) scale. Various factors may explain this phenomenon. What is requested of members is rather demanding, we thus plunge into a vicious circle: the less we are numerous the more each and every individual must compensate to achieve the goals we set ourselves. Moreover, our current structure does not facilitate the involvement of many people. The quasi-clandestine and affinity group nature of some of our activities that has characterized our operations for several years is an example. For the rest, reading the texts of Phoebus and Julie will bring out more relevant answers.

And Afterwards?

The least we can say is that the process of refounding NEFAC Quebec aroused great interest and curiosity. We can not fail! We must therefore take the time to do things right, especially since the "failure" of NEFAC has affected the functioning of the regional union in Quebec. After ten years of agitation, propaganda and organization, our current has taken an important place in the landscape of the anti-capitalist left. But these achievements are fragile. The potential is there to us to seize opportunities when they arise!

Notes

1) The process that led to the creation of the NEFAC dates back to 1999. The group Emile Henry (Québec), founded the previous year, was involved. NEFAC was officially founded at a congress held in Boston in 2000 where two delegations from Québec (one from Québec, the other from Montreal) were present.

2) The idea of a infokiosque is not born "spontaneously". Creating a space like that had germinated in the minds of some members of NEFAC several months before. It lacked a space - free - and a good dose of organization to make it a reality.

3) As for example in the demonstration against American intervention in Iraq on November 17, 2002, we set ourselves apart by an internationalist position which rejected the "pacifism" of the official organizing committee. Our leaflet entitled "Quelle connerie que la paix sociale" (Social peace is a con game -?????Molly)was decorated with a beautiful dove clutching a molotov cocktail in its claws...

4) We relayed the word of a general strike against the FTAA in Québec on 32 October 2002 alongside Dada à Faim and the Collectif des Bas-Quartiers.

5) Red and Anarchist Skinheads

6) We returned three more times to the CEGEP Garneau to give lectures on libertarian education, "masculinism" and the Zapatista uprising.

7) We were thus approached by people Jacques-Cartier Community Center to organize a workshop on racism and the extreme right with the trainees. The RASH also published a fanzine ( "class against class") and organized many concerts where music and politics made a good mixture.

8) Consejo Indigena Popular de Oaxaca "Ricardo Flores-Magon"

9) Anarchist Student Network

10) Before "La Voix de Faits", members of la Nuit had hosted several radio programs on CKIA and CKRL (Level with the Daisies, Free Zone ...). But this was the first time a show was "officially" produced and presented by the collective.

==

A text excerpted from the special edition of the journal Ruptures (May 2009)

AMERICAN POLITICS:

STOP BANK FORECLOSURES:

There just might be something to the overused word "synchronicity". Just as I was about half way through the latest Time Magazine's four page on the Goldman Sach's company I look at the email and low and behold here it is. The following is a story and appeal from the American Rights at Work coalition. The appeal is a very personal one.

APAPAPAPAPAPAP

I'm afraid, anybody would be:‏
It's hard to say it. I'm afraid.

It hasn't always been this way. The day my husband and I bought our home was the happiest of my life. Even when my husband left me and my two sons eight years ago I wasn't scared. I simply worked harder and longer hours to pay the bills.

We made it work. Now Luis is 10 and Moises is 8, and they've grown up into little men in the same house for all these years.

But for the first time since the boys were born, I'm scared for all of us. The bank is threatening to sell our home, and even though we qualify for a loan modification which could solve everything, the bank just won't negotiate. It's terrifying. It shouldn't be this way. I need your help.

You can do something – something I can't do on my own. You can send a message to the people who manage my loan at Litton of Goldman Sachs, and you can tell them not to take my family's home away from us. Under president Obama's "Making Home Affordable" plan, my mortgage qualifies for a modification. All Litton of Goldman Sachs has to do is keep up their end of the president's plan – something they've already agreed to do but aren't doing – and whenever possible, modify loans to prevent foreclosing. Please click here if you can.

I want to make sure you know that I am someone who pays my bills. For eight years, I worked at the same job to pay the bills. Even with no child support coming in, I paid the bills. Then last year, the economy crashed and my hours were cut so much, I had to take another job. It wasn't enough, and I missed a payment on my mortgage. Just one payment.

Suddenly, Litton of Goldman Sachs raised my interest rates. It took me a little over a month to find another full-time job. My new job actually paid a little more than the one I had before, and I was hopeful. But the payment I missed was added to the next month's bill Litton of Goldman Sachs, which was $500 higher than it was before. The next month was even higher. After five months, I received notice of foreclosure.

That's when I turned to ACORN. ACORN has been working with families struggling to keep their homes through the foreclosure crisis. They told me about President Obama's "Making Home Affordable" plan, and they said that almost every firm in the country had signed on to the plan. Eventually, even Litton of Goldman Sachs – my bank – signed on to the plan. Under President Obama's plan, my loan is eligible for a modification which would allow my family to stay in the house and resume making payments at a reasonable rate.

But the bad news is that Litton of Goldman Sachs refuses to keep their word – and they refuse to modify my loan, even though it is eligible. When you help me and my family today, you will also help other families who are in my same situation.

Please, take just one minute to tell Litton of Goldman Sachs to put a moratorium on home foreclosures and to negotiate a loan modification with me before my sons are forced out of the only home they've ever known.

I can't thank you enough.
Sincerely,
Maria Morales
Proud Mother of Luis and Moises

APAPAPAPAPAPAP

THE LETTER:

Please go to THIS LINK to send the following letter to management at Goldman Sachs.

APAPAPAPAPAPAP

I'm encouraged that Litton of Goldman Sachs has signed on to President Obama's "Making Home Affordable" plan. But I'm disappointed to learn that you're not following through with the plan by stopping the foreclosure process when qualifying homeowners request loan modification. These homeowners -- like Maria Morales, a hardworking mother of two who may lose her home as soon as early September -- need your help. Don't sell Maria's home; negotiate a loan modification with her.

Homeowners like Maria Morales need you to do what you promised to do when you signed on to the plan. Start today by placing a moratorium on all home foreclosures until you fully assess your portfolio for modification-eligible loans.

Let's be clear -- these aren't people who are asking for a free ride. They want to pay their bills -- and they qualify for loan modification under President Obama's plan. But unless you halt the foreclosure process while you review their cases, many of these homeowners and their families will end up without a roof over their heads.

When Litton of Goldman Sachs signed the "Making Home Affordable" plan, you agreed not to foreclose on homeowners who request loan modification until you've had the chance to review their situation. So I'm writing now to ask that you keep your word and hold up your end of the plan -- sit down and negotiate with Maria Morales, and place a moratorium on all home foreclosures until you can asses the details and make modifications for other homeowners who are eligible, like Maria.

It's what you said you were going to do -- and it's the right thing to do.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

DUBLIN STRIKE SUPPORTERS INVADE DOCKYARD GATE:

Molly has often expressed the opinion that strikes are best carried out by the most militant methods possible, with the caveat that violence should be avoided if at all possible. In the long term view all strikes are episodes in a class war that demands both the greatest initiative on the part of the dispossessed and also the demonstration on their part of a superior moral sense.

A recent action in Dublin Ireland fulfills both these criteria. Supporters of the striking Dublin Port Workers have invaded the offices of Marine Terminals Ltd. Here's the story from the Irish Times.

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Supporters of striking port workers breach Dublin dockyard gates:

TIM O'BRIEN
IN an escalation of an eight-week dispute, supporters of striking Dublin Port workers breached dockyard gates in the south port yesterday, entering the offices of Marine Terminals Ltd.
Up to 600 marchers attended a rally in protest against Marine Terminals’ demands for compulsory redundancies and new pay and conditions at the cargo handling facility.

Marchers had heard that the owners of Marine Terminals Ltd, UK firm Peel Ports, had brought in outside labour, when about half of the attendance breached the company gates, shouting “Dockers in, scabs out.”

A number of people entered booking offices before a large crowd moved to the gates of a container yard, and then to Marine Terminals’ administration offices, where their way was blocked by a Garda.

Rally organisers asked the crowd to respect the Garda and not to cause any damage, while a number of speakers, including two members of Dublin City Council, addressed the crowd from the doors of the administration block.

Windows in the block were locked and blinds closed during the protest, but nearby cameras on Portakabins rotated to follow the crowd.(Oh really, I wonder how many of these cameras are set up to catch criminals in the rough areas of Dublin rather than protesters ?-Molly)

Earlier, Siptu general secretary Joe O’Flynn had told protesters that if a solution was not found to the dispute, damage to businesses in the port would spread to the wider economy.

He accused Peel Ports of “bullyboy tactics” against decent employees, many of whom had worked in the company for years.

Mr O’Flynn said the company has consistently set its face against serious engagement with the workers, “steamrolling through mass redundancies and threatening further job losses, as well as cuts in pay and conditions”.

Even before the strike began, he claimed, the company had brought in strike-breakers from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“I can tell them now that we do not need investors with that mindset in Ireland and if they are not prepared to change it, they should leave now and hand over the facility to a company that will behave within decent business norms,” he said. (Uh, say "duh", a much better "threat" would be to say something about handing the business over to a producers' cooperative of the dockworkers. This, of course, is beyond the present horizon of the official trade unions )

Peter Bunting, assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said members would “name and shame” the “scabs” in their own communities and addressed his comments in personal terms to a Marine Terminals manager, John Rafferty.

He was also critical of the media, saying that if the unions had treated the State’s industrial relations machinery with the same disdain as Marine Terminals had, the unions would be “excoriated”.

Messages of support were read from dockers’ unions in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, where it was claimed members of the FNV union occupied the head offices of Peel Ports’ subsidiary BG Freight at Bondgenoten for three hours from 10am to 1pm Irish time.

FNV has also served three weeks’ strike notice on BG Freight, as required by Dutch law, to begin industrial action there if the Irish dispute is not resolved in the meantime, it was claimed.
In a statement issued after the rally, Marine Terminals Ltd said “encouraging a crowd, including children, to enter a busy industrial site is dangerous and irresponsible and as a negotiating tactic can only be counter-productive.”

The company said “unions must recognise that, for the port of Dublin to remain competitive in a deteriorating market, changes must be made. Their intransigence will only hurt their members’ interests.”

A spokesman insisted six workers had been offered in excess of €70,000, while 16 had been offered in excess of €60,000 and “the average payout is €35,000 to €40,000”.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times.

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-TORONTO:

STOP TORONTO'S PAN-AM BID:

The following came to Molly's attention via the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). It originates with a new coalition, the No Games Toronto group.

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Sunday and Monday: Stop The Bid for the Pan Am Games:‏
The money budgeted to be spent on the Pan Am Games in Toronto could repair every unit in TCHC, raise social assistance rates for everyone in the province and have money left over for other important social spending. In addition to being a waste of money, the City will use the games as an excuse to speed up gentrification and socially cleanse our neighborhoods. Vancouver has seen the displacement and/or criminalization of thousands of poor people because of the Olympics. We will fight to make sure the same doesn't happen here!

OCAP is calling on our members and supporters to join in this coalition action against the games.

*No Games Toronto - Stop the bid for the 2015 Games!*

*Pan Am Sports Organization (PASO) coming to town to decide on bid*

*Sunday, August 30th

11 a.m. to evening

No Games Flying Squad Bus

we will visit a few of the venues

Meet 11 a.m. @ APUS

100 Devonshire Place (across from the Uof T Varsity Stadium)

*RALLY to stop the Games!

*Monday August 31, 11:00 a.m.

100 Devonshire Place

across from the Uof T Varsity Stadium

Call out to the community to join us at the APUS office, the site of the $50million Pan Am venue that will displace the part-time union. We will have speakers, free food and information on why we need to resist the bid! The estimated cost for the Pan-Am games in Toronto is already set at $2.4 billion.

Yet, the most vulnerable and marginalized people are told that there isn’t enough money to assist them. All, three levels of government and the U of T have pledged either tens, or hundreds of millions into the Pan-Am Games. Meanwhile, there are more urgent priorities like public housing, keeping our schools and pools open and affordable post-secondary education.

This year, while planning for two Olympic Size sports facilities, costing upwards of $220 million for the Pan Am games, the University of Toronto raised tuition across the board. In addition, they introduced an unprecedented Flat Fee that will increase tuition for part-time students as much as 66%. One venue, the Centre for High Performance Sport, will displace the Uof T part-time student union.

If these plans go ahead, students will be expected to pay additional levies for both venues. Twice in the past, the people of Toronto have been successful in preventing the Olympics from coming to town (i.e. 1996 and 2008 games). We stopped it then and we can do it again! Mega-Sporting events wreak havoc on their host cities, displacing marginalized people, shutting down sectors of the city, bankrupting small businesses, demanding a large police presence, and in the end leave the city billions in debt. We only need to look to Vancouver, which is scheduled to host the 2010 Olympic Games.

What was originally supposed to cost only $660 million is now projected at $6 billion. With six months before the games begin there are already massive violations of civil liberties and homelessness has substantially increased.

When the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) comes to town there will be a two-day marathon of wining, dining, and showing off, where officials from all three levels of government will attempt to impress the five-member evaluation committee to secure Toronto’s 2015 Pan-Am bid.

No Games Toronto,a coalition of community activists, plan to show our opposition on the 30thand 31st by letting PASO know their games are not welcome here. Join our rally

Monday 31st at 11 a.m.

100 Devonshire Place

and the flying squad No Pan Am Games

Bus - Sunday Aug 30th, 11 a.m. to evening (the bus leaves from same location).

Send PASO the message that Toronto has more relevant priorities than Mega-Sporting events. *More information:

**http://NoGamesToronto.blogspot.com*

<http://nogamestoronto.blogspot.com/>

**

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty

10 Britain St.

Toronto, ON

M5A 1R6

416-925-6939

ocap@tao.ca

www.ocap.ca

**

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MOLLY NOTE:

I really have to speak up here to make my own position clear. To begin with let me say that I am in total agreement with any opposition to statist spectacles such as the Olympics or the Pan-Am Games. That goes without saying. At the same time I am not a leftist with a crude knee jerk reaction against any and all sport. I have a great suspicion that much of the opposition to the Olympics and the Pan-Am Games comes from a subculture that I am not only not part of but that I know is engaging in behavior that is good for building the subculture but lousy for attaining the presumed goals. Personally I think that athletic contests are actually a worthy enterprise while many leftist activities are not. Let's go further. My father was boxing champion of Québec in his weight class. Was he wrong to go for this title ? As for myself I am a champion of nothing. I did, however, once break the four minute mile. Nothing short of a miracle to anyone who knows Molly and her actual stature. Mind you my lungs burned for two weeks. Will power versus reality. Some years later at Olympia in Greece I actually booted up and down the traditional course (without timing it). I cannot express how good it felt. If I would suggest anything to do before you die this would be one of the things. God knows how Olympia looks after the recent 2007 fires, but it was beauty incarnate when we were there.

Life is short. I've recently been reminded of this once more. In this brief transit from oblivion to oblivion taking pleasure whenever you can is not a vice. It should actually be a commandment. Quite frankly I often cringe at the statements of my leftist confreres about certain things. Sport happens to be one of these cringe-inducing subjects. Once more, the spectacles of nationalism involved in such things as the Olympics or the Pan-Am Games are repulsive, and their holding is a waste of money. Yet....by what alchemy is it presumed that money spent on such games will automatically rebound to the benefit of the poor if it is not spent on such spectacles. This is not quibbling. I don't think it should be spent-period. But I seriously doubt that any such monies saved would ever be spent for the direct advantage of the poor.

Should such monies actually be diverted to so-called "social spending" there is a "hard question" that will eventually have to be faced by anarchists, if not by the average leftist who would see no problem. Is there a "trickle down" economy such that every dollar thrown at a social service bureaucracy and that part of the ruling class and the working class whose product is social control will benefit the actual so-called "clients". If so by what percentage. Is one dollar of social spending equal to 1 dollar of benefit, nothing, 10 cents or 50 cents of benefit to the poor ? How much in each case. At what point do you say "no". Some things are easy. So-called psychotherapy or "counselling" (the new bureaucrateze for the the dollar store version) is obviously worthless and a simple con. Most things, however, are much more complex.

All of this gets back to the idea of celebrations, of deliberate waste of resources that produce "public joy" as something that is actually worth supporting and having. To my great shame it is a semi-Marxist social democrat who has written the best book on why we should appreciate such "useless" celebrations. Barbara Ehrenreich's 'Dancing in the Street' is, to my mind, the best corrective to leftist (and anarchist) puritanism that I have ever seen. The problem with so-called "anarchist" correctives is that they are usually far more moralistic, arrogant and pseudo-elitist (see primitivism and post leftism) that that which they criticize. But how should I know ? I have never tried to claim some great differentiation from the "great unwashed". My own small life is enough for me, and I have no other ambitions.

Celebrations ! Athletics ! As I said I think that they are a worthy ambition for a noble human. Way back when this would not have seemed such an outré opinion. In 1936 left wing parties and unions, led by the Spanish CNT, proposed to hold a 'People's Olympiad' in Barcelona from July 19th to July 26th. This was to be in opposition to the Berlin Olympics of 1936, the "fascist Olympics". The proposal, where Germany and Italy were to be represented by exile athletic groups, was overtaken by events ie the Spanish Revolution which began on July 17 1936. This Olympiada Popular would also have featured competitions in chess, folkdancing, music and theatre, mirroring, in a way, the ancient Olympiads.

All that Molly can ask to those who pretend to the name of anarchism today is "what is wrong with this" ? Do we aspire to the grey "equality" of the liberal/leftist vision where competition and excellence in every field except manipulation !!!!!! and lies!!!!! is condemned and punished ? Or are we wise enough to put our politics beyond pop-psychology and the bureaucracies that it supports and see what people actually are and want.

Sigh!!!! Never again will I run the course at Olympia unless I am sure that I am dying. If I was I'd probably try to run the run that ended at Marathon, and I'd be happy to die in its course like the original runner did. But I hear that the land developers have committed arson that threatens Marathon this year. So sad.

CANADIAN LABOUR-SUDBURY:

VALE INCO DECISION NOT SURPRISING:
Vale Inco seems to be charging ahead with its seat-of-the-pants training scheme in hopes of restarting at least some production at their Ontario mines and smelters. To say the least this is a chancy ploy. There are indeed ex-workers amongst the non-union personnel who were involved in production for a varying number of years. Consider this for a moment. Too few years ie if you were an Einstein of ass-kissing, and you are still green. Too many means you were promoted so long ago that you can remember mining techniques from the neolithic but nothing very recent. Let alone the fact that those with any direct experience of production will be expected to train managerial neophytes chop-chop. In others words a situation of large moving machinery and potentially dangerous materials that no sensible person would care to be around.




Here from the pages of the Sudbury Star is the most recent union response to this reckless idea. The following came to Molly's attention, as usual, from the strike support site Fair Deal Now.
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Union angry, but not surprised, by Vale Inco's decision to resume some production:
Posted By Carol Mulligan/The Sudbury Star
United Steelworkers Local 6500 president John Fera says he was disappointed and angry - but not surprised - about Vale Inco Ltd.'s announcement it intends to resume partial operations at its striking Sudbury plants.





Vale Inco's John Pollesel, president of production services and support for Canada/UK Operations and general manager of Ontario operations, sent an e-mail to employees Tuesday telling them of the company's decision.





"Training of selected employees is beginning this week to facilitate the process and help us to continue supplying customers, generating cash flow and providing meaningful employment for staff," he said.





Fera said it was "putting it mildly" to say he was disappointed in the Brazilian-owned subsidiary of Vale SA and its chief executive officer, Roger Agnelli.





What really angers him is the effort the company is apparently putting into getting some plants running again instead of trying to get back to the bargaining table with striking production and maintenance workers.





The union and the mining company bargained for more than three months to try to reach a collective agreement, but Vale Inco's settlement offer was rejected by 85 per cent of the Steelworkers who voted on it.





Fera said he found out about Vale Inco's intent to resume work at some plants when he met Tuesday morning with Pollesel about the strike protocol that had been hammered out between USW and the company in court.





Vale Inco spokesman Steve Ball said the decision was made based on what is best for the company and to ensure there is work for 1,200 management, staff and members of USW Local 2020 during the labour dispute.





The plan is to resume some scale of operation at Coleman and Garson mines, and crush ore from them at Clarabelle Mill.





Copper and precious metals will be extracted and concentrated from the ore and then sold, said Ball. The nickel will not be processed.





There are no plans at this point to operate the Copper Cliff smelter, he said.





Fera said Vale Inco's plan to restart operations on a limited scale has him questioning the position that has been its mantra for several months - that the company must remain "cash-positive in all business cycles."





The union leader said this move makes him question that logic.





Fera challenges how it is "cash-positive" to produce copper that is selling for about $2.70 a pound when nickel is selling for $9.





Ball wouldn't reveal any figures, but he said precious metals sell for considerably more than copper. The goal is to have some revenue coming in, at least enough to keep the people in the plants employed.





Vale is also looking at bringing in a small number of other workers to run operations, said Ball.





Nickel Belt and Sudbury Nickel Belt MPs Claude Gravelle and Glenn Thibeault were quick to condemn Vale Inco for its decision.





They warn about the dangers of running potentially environmentally dangerous plants with inexperienced workers.





"This does nothing to help resolve the current dispute," said Thibeault in a written statement.
"This is a total slap in the face to the Steelworkers union and it's hard-working members."





Thibeault and Gravelle are again calling on the Harper Conservatives to release details of the agreement Vale signed with Investment Canada after acquiring Inco close to three years ago.
Gravelle said he is also concerned for the health and safety of non-unionized staff personnel, who will be tackling new jobs with minimal training.





"This is a big mistake by Vale," said Gravelle. "I worked at Inco for 34 years and I can tell you that a few days of training for replacement workers is not enough to keep people safe underground."
cmulligan@thesudburystar.com
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MOLLY NOTE:
One of the more interesting points raised by the above article is that Vale Inco and the Canadian government have basically made a secret agreement governing the takeover of Inco. Perish forbid that our dear beloved comrade leader Sneaky Stevie Harper could ever be accused of being secretive or hiding anything from either Parliament or the Canadian public. We, of course, would never believe such a thing of our Dear Leader, the heir of the Great Leader 'Brian Il Sung'. Deception is as far away from their benevolent and glorious concern for the welfare of the people as the edge of the universe is from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. Or do I miss something here ? Could it be that such a agreement should be in public view so the public can see exactly what has been promised ? Is it possible that an audit of at least the members of the present Cabinet to see if they have any investment connections to Vale Inco or any of its subsidiaries is in order ? It seems to this little cat that the Canadian public has a right to know about potential conflicts of interest and that secret agreements are not the way that government business should be done.

LOCAL EVENTS-WINNIPEG:

THE SPIRIT OF GIVING POW WOW:

Coming up tomorrow here in the Peg...'The Spirit of Giving Traditional Pow Wow. Here's the details.

LELELELELELELE

Spirit of Giving Traditional Pow Wow

1st Annual "Spirit of Giving Traditional Pow Wow":
Host:
Spirit of Giving Powwow Partner Group
Price:
*FREE*
Date:
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Time:
1:00pm - 7:00pm
Location:
Broadway Neighborhood Centre
185 Young Street
Winnipeg, MB
Phone:
415-4715
Email:
tasha_spillett@hotmail.com
Description
1st Annual "Spirit of Giving Traditional Pow Wow"Ka Ni Kanichihk and its partnering organizations, Urban Eagle Transition Center, Turtle Lodge, and Broadway Neighborhood Centre are pleased to announce the 1st Annual "Spirit of Giving Traditional Pow Wow to be held on Thursday August 27 2009 at the Broadway Neighborhood Centre located at 185 Young Street.

The Spirit of Giving Pow Wow is to bring the community together to celebrate and honor the teachings of generosity and caring which are integral teachings within the Aboriginal Worldview.

On Thursday, August 27, 2009, not only will we be celebrating our culture with traditional song, dance, and feast, we will also be collecting food donations for Winnipeg Harvest to truly promote and nurture the Spirit of Giving. the event is to support a much larger campaign to be held on October 10th, 2009 to raise awareness and promote the spirit of generosity. The design of the campaign is to ensure the sharing of resources to prevent hunger in the community of Winnipeg.

We welcome all media, and the whole Manitoba community to come join us on that day. The Pow Wow will begin at 1 pm with the first Grand Entry, followed by a feast at 5pm, and a second Grand Entry at 7pm. The Host Drum will be Spirit Rising along with 4 other invited drums.((Dance Registration at 11am-1pm))

((Craft Tables $30))

*Please Bring Your Own Lawn Chairs and Blankets

***We will be collecting donations for Winnipeg Harvest,,, bring a non-perishable item and your name will be put in a draw for an awesome prize!

** If you have any questions or require any further information please do not hesitate to call Tasha Spillett at 204-415-3795 or e-mail tasha_spillett@hotmail.com .T

hank You for your support and we look forward to seeing you on that day.

PEOPLE:

CANADA'S OLDEST PEACE ACTIVIST DIES AT 100:

Last weekend a long standing Canadian pacifist, Muriel Duckworth, died at the age of 100. Through he long life she stood firm in her convictions and fought the good fight against state violence. Here's a tribute to here from today's Halifax Metro News.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Duckworth's biographer remembers the 'Raging Granny':
HILARY BEAUMONT
METRO HALIFAX
A capacity crowd clapped along to a soul-filled rendition of Happy Birthday at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium last fall.

Halifax peace activist Muriel Duckworth, who died over the weekend, was celebrating her 100th birthday on Oct. 31, with friends and family surrounding her.

Sitting in a wheelchair on stage that day, Duckworth’s face lit up with a smile of appreciation. “It’s been wonderful to have this celebration,” she told the crowd. “I’ve never dreamed of anything like this.”

“That was a rare, rare moment for any of us to see -- somebody who deeply deserved it to be honoured in her own community,” remembered Marion Douglas Kerans, a friend who wrote the biography, Muriel Duckworth: A Very Active Pacifist.

The Quebec-born Duckworth, who moved to Halifax in 1947, died in palliative care in a Quebec hospital on Saturday.

“She showed women how to become true leaders in their community, and in the world, without losing any feminine grace,” Kerans said yesterday.

Duckworth helped found the Nova Scotia Voice Of Women (VOW) and also served on the Oxfam Canada board of directors in the 1970s. During the Vietnam War, she and other VOW members spoke out against the violence -- a strong opposition that eventually led her to leave the United Church of Canada and join the Quakers after the church refused to denounce the conflict Time didn’t slow Duckworth down. In her later years, she became a vocal member of peaceful activist group the Halifax Raging Grannies.

“She lived exactly what she taught,” Kerans said.

Duckworth is survived by her three children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Plans for her funeral are still being arranged.

AMERICAN POLITICS:

CIA TORTURE REPORT-DEEPER INVESTIGATION NEEDED:

The long awaited- and I do mean long awaited; it was written in 2004 under the Bush Administration and kept under wraps- CIA Inspector General's report on US interrogation techniques (aka torture) was released today. You can read more about this report and the American government's co-announcement of appointing a special prosecutor to investigate HERE at the BBC and HERE at the English news section of Al Jazeera. Many are already criticizing both the report and the US Administration's actions as being insufficient. Amongst these is the Human Rights First organization. Here is their story and appeal.

APAPAPAPAPAPAP
New evidence on torture: call for an investigation:‏
From:
Devon Chaffee,

Human Rights First

(Communications@HumanRightsFirst.org )
New report on torture: there are still unanswered questions.
Sign our petition supporting an independent inquiry to get the full truth.
The wheels of justice...are creaking.

Today the Obama Administration released new excerpts from a report that expose more evidence of torture. How many more reports do we need before we make one clean, thorough, and independent investigation that gets to the bottom of not just what happened – but how it happened, and who is responsible?
Join our efforts to demand answers. Sign our petition.

The 2004 CIA Inspector General’s report released today details harsh interrogation techniques used from September 2001 to October 2003. This document underlines the need to conduct both a criminal investigation – as part of the preliminary review announced today by Attorney General Eric Holder – and an independent review of how torture and abuse were authorized and implemented.

The release of these documents is good news, but it leaves many questions unanswered. We need those questions answered.

Sign our petition supporting an independent commission empowered to get to the bottom of how torture happened.
Sincerely,

Devon Chaffee

Advocacy Counsel

APAPAPAPAPAPAP

THE PETITION:

Please go to THIS LINK to sign the following petition.

APAPAPAPAPAPAP

We call on the President of the United States to establish an independent, non-partisan commission to examine and report publicly on torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees in the period since September 11, 2001. The commission, comparable in stature to the 9/11 Commission, should look into the facts and circumstances of such abuses, report on lessons learned, and recommend measures that would prevent any future abuses. We believe that the commission is necessary to reaffirm America's commitment to the Constitution, international treaty obligations, and human rights. The report issued by the commission will strengthen U.S. national security and help to re-establish America's standing in the world.

CANADIAN LABOUR-SUDBURY:

VALE INCO PLANS ANGER SUDBURY WORKERS:

It may be just sabre rattling, but Vale Inco has proceeded with its plans to train salaried workers and management personnel in production techniques- with the implicit threat of attempting to restart production despite the present strike. This action has, to say the least, angered the strikers, as the following article from Northern Life makes plain. To follow developments in the strike stay tuned to the strike support website Fair Deal Now.

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Vale Inco resuming production would mean 'war': union:
If Vale Inco resumes any form of production while Steelworkers members are on strike, it would mean “war in Sudbury,” according to Wayne Fraser, director of District 6 for the United Steelworkers Union. File photo.
Aug 19, 2009
By: Ed Veilleux - Sudbury Northern Life Staff

If Vale Inco resumes any form of production while Steelworkers members are on strike, it would mean “war in Sudbury,” according to Wayne Fraser, director of District 6 for the United Steelworkers Union.

“If that (resuming production) means a war in Sudbury, it's going to be a war in Sudbury,” he said. About 3,100 members of Steelworkers Local 6500 have been on strike in the community since July 13.

Vale Inco admitted to putting on training sessions for non-unionized workers to be able to train others for various jobs with the company, as part of a “contingency plan.”

“We have started running some train-the-trainer sessions at the nickel refinery as part of our ongoing contingency plans as a result of the strike,” said Steve Ball, public affairs officer for Vale Inco.

“We're continuing to explore all of our options, including resuming some degree of operations. So we are considering all options for the business right now.”

As far as training workers to be able to operate the production side of the business, Ball repeated the company is “continuing to explore all of our options.”

The possibility of Vale Inco using newly-trained, non-unionized employees to replace striking workers on production is “pretty unrealistic in terms of the whole operation,” said Fraser. “Look at mining, smelting, milling and (the process) to get a final product out, I think it's a pretty impossible task (to replace workers).

“More importantly, we're not going to sit back and watch others do our job when we're on the picket line. Not going to happen in Sudbury.”

As far as how the union would respond, Fraser said, “we'll deal with that if and when it happens, I'll say that very loud and clear.”

During strikes, non-unionized employees for the company are typically on standby to perform maintenance work.

“To fill a hole for 3,200 trained and qualified, skilled workers is really an impossible task,” Fraser said.

Ball said as far as newly-qualified trainers teaching others, it is a “possibility.”

“Will they be training other people down the road, once we've decided and considered what our options are? That is, I guess, a possibility,” Ball said. “But, until we've made decisions on a number of options, we are just training instructors ahead of time.”

At this time, only one training session in underway, but that will depend “on the needs of the business and whatever decisions we make on the best interests of what our business needs,” Ball said.

Fraser said the important task at hand is for Vale Inco to return to bargaining with the union.

“What they need to do, instead of train people, is get back to the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith. That's what they need to do.

“That's up to them, we've held the door open for them and told them that we're interested in bargaining and finding a Canadian solution for the difficulties... And they sit back with their arrogance and talk about training people.”

Ball said Vale Inco is willing to talk, when the union is willing to “accept the changes.”

“As we've said, until the Steelworkers are willing to accept the changes that are needed in our business, there will be little to talk about,” he said.

Fraser said Vale Inco, or Inco, has never operated the production side of operations during a strike, and, “they're not going to do it now.”

He said they are “rattling swords. At the end of the day it becomes almost impossible to (replace the workers).”

LOCAL EVENTS-WINNIPEG

WILFRED ASHAM BENEFIT SOCIAL:

Seems like a lot will be happening across the country this August 29. Here in Winnipeg the Winnipeg Copwatch (see also the Winnipeg Copwatch facebook page) will be holding a fundraising social for the family of Wilfred Asham who died under unclear circumstances while in Winnipeg City Police custody. Here's what's happening.

WWWWWWWWWW
Wilfred Asham Benefit Social:

Fundraising Social

Wilfred Asham died while being held by the Winnipeg police in the Public Safety Building on September 2, 2007. The police have been unwilling to provide his family with answers, for almost two years, as to how this young and healthy man could have suddenly died in police custody. The mandatory inquiry into his death is no where in sight. The autopsy results failed to mention bruising, redness and scratching on his face, in addition to an altered nose.

His family is initiating a lawsuit against the city and the police to get some answers and in hopes that it will make cameras mandatory in every interview room, holding cell, elevator and stairwell in every police station in this city. Please join us for a fundraising social to help this family with legal costs.

Saturday August 29, 2009

8:00PM - 1:00AM

Northwood Community Centre

1415 Burrows Ave.

Tickets are $10 and are available at Mondragon (91 Albert Street), Organic Planet Worker Co-op (877 Westminster Avenue) and Elizabeth Fry (544 Selkirk Avenue) or by calling Winnipeg Copwatch at 942-1588.If you are unable to attend the social, but want to support the efforts of Wilfred's family, donations can be made through Winnipeg Copwatch.

Thank you and hope to see you there,

Winnipeg Copwatch