DEVELOPMENT: Iraq War, Budget Pressures Squeeze Overseas Aid
–This is the reason for the changes made in the below article. Jim Lobe talks about the budget crunch and its effects on the world poor. The US has taken and spent and now there is nothing to give back.

DEVELOPMENT: U.S. Sees Growth as The Way
–We forget the people when we deny aid to countries we deem as not worthy. It is not right in my opinon.

POLITICS-U.S.: Losing Feith
–Jim Lobe talks on the movements inside the Neo-Conservative group inside the White House.

IRAQ: Hollow Election Held on Bloody Day
–Dahr Jamail talks about the elections in Iraq and how turnout is not even across the country.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Allawi issues call for unity
–Shaping “democracy” is what empire is about now… I am not sure what it has changed from? The people who went to the polls are undoubtably brave and undoubtably want democracy, but that is not the point. The point is that they have no control over the process and the process of elections was designed that way. They have no choice over the shape that their country will take but they are dying as a result of the shape it is taking.

CBC News: Canadian team monitoring Iraqi election from Jordan
–Explain to me how this makes any sense. How can we really monitor the elections in Iraq if we are not in Iraq to monitor the elections?

Ford union employees in Windsor refuse OT – 01/30/05
–Forced overtime is not something that members of unions should put up with. If the work is there then companies need to hire more people.

The Nation | Article | Profits for Justice | Michael H. Shuman & Merrian Fuller
–I would like to know what you people think of this article. Profits for Justice. The question is: Should the Left adopt the capitalist corporate models to fight for social ideals? I do not think this fits into a lot of what I believe to be best way to move forward (I prefer grassroots democratic social movements) but I am open to arguments to the contrary.

rabble columns
–Rick Salutin on the Iraq elections. Do not mistake elections for democracy. Some 7-8 million people are projected to have voted in Iraq. However, the breakdown of who voted and where will be a little more interesting. The people want representation but the government is not set-up to do so. Some will say that the act of voting itself is good enough but if people do not know who they are voting for and do not know what the parties stand for (there are over 200) then what is result worth?

ZNet |Repression | Bringing It All Back Home
–An article on the development of the Homeland Security State in the US.

rabble news
–Dr. Henry Morgentaler on the fight for a choice in Canada and how the governments of New Brunswick and Quebec stand against the will of the people and what is demanded by the Federal courts. The thing here is that there should be no need from “private” clinics. The government should run and fund all the clinics that are external to hospitals. That is what the Health Act demands. Until the government decides to take this on then I see no reason that the clinics cannot stay.

rabble news – everyone’s a critic
–The people do not know what is going on in Haiti and the mass media is partly to blame.

World Social Forum: Activists Urge Free Open-Source Software
–Always nice to see some people making sense when talking about open source software and the “developing” world.

ZNet |Vision & Strategy | A Note from WSF 2005
–News from the WSF.

ZNet |Iraq | STATEMENT CONDEMNING ATTACKS ON IRAQI TRADE UNIONISTS
–Join the condemnation of the the Iraqi trade unionists. Have a read of those that have signed the letter, read the letter and the informaiton, and then decide what action is necessary.

A Tale of Two Forums in Worlds Apart
–More on the World Social Forum and why it differs from Davos’ WEC.

Arabs Say Iraq Vote Gives Democracy a Bad Name
–I would say that it does more than give democracy a bad name. I would say that it is not democracy and could leave people believing that voting is all that is needed for a democracy to exist.

CBC – New Brunswick
–The NB Premier Lord never ceases to amaze me in his complete ignorance of the problems. It is either that he does not really understand the issues around abortion in NB or that he is trying to manipulate the public. The province must pay for abortions whether they are in private or public clinics. That is the law. The only reason that the private clinics exist is because the government will not provide the right level of care in our publicly funded ones (i.e. the hospital).

Iraq: This Election is a Sham
–Finally. Some one in the mass media with a little backbone. The Iraq elections are a sham.

ZNet |Vision & Strategy | To Love The Marigold: Hope & Imagination
–Here is a fun read about keeping your spirits up in a time of fear. This is written for the US people but can apply here as well… we share the same continent afterall.

ZNet |Labor | A Message from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
–Some interesting things are happening in the Unions of the US. Here is a letter from the head of AFL-CIO. It is worth a read if you care at all about the atmosphere at ground level in the US.

rabble columns
–Duncan Cameron: Weddings and funerals. A look over the last week in Canada.