“…young Canadians from immigrant backgrounds are becoming radicalized through the internet and are looking for targets at home, not abroad.” So now young ‘radical’ Canadians are in the sites of our very own spy agency. I’m radical and young. How long will it be before people like you and I are under heavy surveillance and then thrown in jail? The crisis of the capitalist state often means that the pendulum of governance turns to facism. If the people are militant and organized enough the pendulum could swing to socialism.

–We must not go along with this push to begin a new kind of cold-war with Iran. The imperialists must keep their hands off Iran if the progressives in the country are going to overcome some of the more regressive ideas of the current government. Foreign intervention is not going to help here and we should have learned this from Afghanistan and Iraq (and all the other times throughout history).

–An interesting look at the Sharia Law in some context. Ontario was going to implement this but all the public got was propaganda and rhetoric. Too bad the rational debate did not happen at the time that it could have made a difference. Education on these issues is necessary if we are going to understand and reject the propaganda machines.

–An interesting read from the Monthly Review.

–Sign the petition and show your solidarity with the striking PSAC diamond mine workers in northern Canada.

–Question what the corporate media is telling you about the state of poverty in Venezuela. I am not sure that Bush is bothering to get accurate numbers for his statements about Venezuela but that does not mean the rest of us should stay in the dark. Have a look at the numbers and decide for yourself. I think the answer is pretty obvious. There is even a list of the nasty quotes across the media for those that are interested.

–Quite the opposite models going here. One wants to control the South with Northern imperialist democracy and the other wants to actually install democracy and socialism. Not much of a choice in my mind.

–Looks like the rightwing has tried to take over some student governments and has caused some conflict. Any instability in Venezuela is going to be jumped on by opportunists. What we do need is some reliable independent media that can tell us what is going on at ground level.

–The revolution continues. Cheap oil for the poor and less reliance on US loans tied to imperialist agendas. Sounds good to me.

–These are not unreasonable demands. Support the students! Sometimes democracy can only be found in the streets.

When the UN left East Timor, violence broke out. Its nation-building had created merely a facade

–Really? Never saw that coming. How can the leadership of these imperialist nations act so surprised when the same things happen again and again?

–Bush is recycling troops in a war of aggression. This must be opposed. TROOPS OUT NOW!!

–This continued attack on our public services by the government must be challenged. The policies that lead to the people in the rural areas not having access to public services like healthcare, water, and postal services are driving people to think that living in rural areas is somehow wrong. We cannot all live in the cities and our public services must respect that.

–There are as many people in the US without health coverage as there are people in Canada. Do we really need a study to point out that they have less access to healthcare than we do here?

–Right, sure, it is not war. The Canadian armed forces are over there killing people and they are shooting back in organized assults between imperialist armies and the local population. Doesn’t even sound like war…

–The pressure must be kept on about this. There is no way we can let discriminaton and intimidation by police because of race and our increasing ability to organize public actions against injustice go unchallenged.

Interesting move by U.K. professors. I’m not comfortable with restricting academic freedom in any way. Although I do disagree with academics that have ties to the right wing of the Isreali government comming to UNB to spread their party line to everyone. I think Universities should not cooperate in any way with eningeering or science research that could be used as weapons against the Palestinians. Academics who want to defend the Israeli government should be critically welcomed to our universities. However, I would add that our Universities should attempt to showcase someone on the opposite side of the issue, as to balance the right wing rhetoric that partisans like Yossi Omert have spewed around the University of New Brunswick recently.

I think CUPE made the right decision

Click here to hear an audio recording of the discussion between Asaf and a police officer made moments before the first arrest.
Today, May 7th, a peaceful Solidarity Across Borders demonstration was marred by the unwarranted arrest of four demonstrators. Asaf, Chris, Duane, and Teresa were released soon after they were arrested, having been verbally and physically harrassed and fined. Five of the demonstrators present have given rough statements so that we can all have a clear picture of what took place today.

Pictures of the demonstration and the arrests are already online and can be viewed at here.

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–We must stand in solidarity with those that are fighting for their rights in Russia.

STATUS FOR ALL! National Day of Action on May 27, 2006! (Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Fredericton…)

No One is Illegal!

In privileged countries around the world, migrants and refugees have been hitting the streets demanding dignity and resisting the imposition of laws that are making people illegal.

On May 27th across Canada, migrants, refugees and their allies will demonstrate against the deportation and detention of migrants and refugees, and for a full, inclusive, unconditional and ongoing regularization program, meaning STATUS FOR ALL! Details: www.solidarityacrossborders.org

FREDERICTON EVENT:
Saturday MAY 27th @ 1 PM in Queen’s Square Park
(the park just below the campus).
Read the rest of this entry »

–A new article on Atlantica for you all. Please spread the word and check-out the Atlantica sites and declaration on the side-bar.

Rally for Pay Equity
In front of the Legislature, 12:30 pm, Thursday, May 25th.
Show your support for proactive pay equity legislation.
For more info, contact: 506 458-7378 or visit: http://www.equite-equity.com

A lawsuit charging Drummond Mining, a US coal company, with complicity in the killing of the union leaders is currently being heard in U.S. federal courts. A former Colombian intel has claimed that he saw the head of the Colombian branch of Drummond hand over a suitcase full of cash to pay for the assassinations of two labor leaders. Drummond denies any involvement in the 2001 murders of the president and vice president of one of the labor unions representing workers at its coal operations in north central Colombia. Many more mining union leaders have been assassinated in recent years including twelve in the year 2002 alone.

–Development economics is that branch of policy that, at its core, assumes that it is the poor peoples’ of the world that are to blame for their poverty. As such, the rise of this idea, again, in the halls of the power elite should not be something that is celebrated and must be opposed. Have a read about this racist and a-historical type of analysis and some ways to respond to it.

–Well, we made the media but it was, of-course, without any indepth analysis or explanation. We have to continue to get the message out to the working people of this province. The idea that the media gives “equal time” to the Chamber of Commerce than it does to the people of this province is not what I call balance… but it is what we have come to expect from the media in this region.

–”May violate”? Is there any question that access to abortion in a hospital is part of the health act? We are slipping back into the dark ages.

–There is no more clear assault on workers than in the sports wear and general garment industry. How long can the world accept the working conditions of third-world factories just so we can wear brand-name running shoes. We must support increased labour standards not a rush for the bottom.

–So much for the image of Canada being a nice place and treating its labour force well. Canada is now in the bad books of the UN in the way our country’s elite exploit the workers that make this country work.

–The Public Service Alliance of Canada has released this article denoucing the Conservative government’s lack of commitment to Aboriginal issues. It is hard to imagine a more oppressed group in Canada and yet there seems to be no interest from this government in addressing the real issues.

–You can see the danger that Chavez is to the West just by the way that the media treat anything that he does. Have a read of what the New York Times is writing lately.

–Whenever Bush says “it is a last resort” you can basically read “that’s what we are going to try next”. This does not bode well for the Palestinian people.

–Still trying to patch the problem than deal with the causes. We must not treat innocent civilian families looking for work and safety as if they are common criminals. There is a reason that the people of these countries are trying to leave blocking them with more guns is not going to stem the flow.

–I am not sure this sounds like much in the way of funding for affordable housing when you look how far the funding has to go…

–Abortions are too expensive for the average New Brunswicker. We must demand public funding for the programs or we risk people injuring themselves. We must demand that the rights of women be protected with more than just words.