–Have a read and find out why it has happened. It is extremely important the people read something other than just the corporate press on this issue.

–A little on why lecturers in Britain did not get what they wanted from their union. Democracy in a union is necessary so that things like this do not happen.

–It is exactly because the Mass. “Universal” health care plan is not a universal health care plan. The large insurers are offering minimal coverage options where people can basically pay the insurers and get nothing in return. If the states want to help the poor and the working class in the US get access to insurance then they should adopt a single-payer (ie: the government — through taxation) system.

–Once again the Corporate Media has all but ignored the magnitude of the anti-war protests in DC over the weekend. Have a read here what they were really like and what they were all demanding.

–Always of interest to student and academics involved with social justice issues. Is there a way to be an academic and be directly involved in social justice? The answer is yes, but it is not that straightforward.

–Iraq Veterans against the war.

–I am intrigued by the title and the idea but it is a rather strange press release for a Sunday.

–It is easy, socialise the middle capitalists (ie: the distribution system) under either a worker control or cooperative model and redistribute the savings down to the farmer and the workers at the coffee houses.

–This is not the kind of clarity that the people of Canada were looking for. In fact, there is no clarity in this document as you might as well say the we are not going to leave until their is peace in Afghanistan. If we continue with the current mission as it is then there is no way for this mission to actually reach these goals… it goes the same for Iraq.

–I am not a fan of Dion either but this is just silly. Spending this amount of money on ads during the Super Bowl because you think that people might actually like the Liberals new green colours seems a bit over the top. They should count this as part of the federal campaign spending for the next election.

–The conservatives wouldn’t know a “green” plan if it introduced itself with a handshake in a jacket and tie.

–An interesting round-up of censorship in the Canadian media. Now it is mostly self censorship…

Suzuki is speaking in Fredericton, 12:30-1:30pm, Sunday, Feb. 4th at Wilmot United Church.

For more info, visit: David Suzuki’s “If you were Prime Minister…” Tour

–This is some great information for those arguing with the capitalist elite that try to claim that the minimum wage cannot go up because it will hurt small business.

“The assertion that minimum wage employers are small family businesses struggling to survive is a myth,” a labour council fact sheet states. “In fact, 71 per cent of low wage jobs are in businesses with more than 20 employees; 40 per cent were in businesses with over 500 employees.”

It’s a big day in D.C.; but the corporate media won’t report on it that way.

Another case of violent racial-intimidation on a campus in the United States.

Readers should also visit Haiti Body Count for more information; it’s rather crude but offers some numbers and their methodology.

Washington this week extended tours of duty for some of its troops in Afghanistan, effectively boosting troop levels by 2,500 for the next few months, and is asking Congress for an extra $10.6 billion for security and reconstruction.

January 26, 2007
Peace Coalition Opposes Increased Troop Deployment
“Bring home the troops and don’t send more to war.”

Fredericton - The Fredericton Peace Coalition is voicing its adamant opposition to a proposal to increase Canadian troop deployment in the NATO-led Afghanistan mission.

“We categorically oppose this unjust war and we are outraged at the proposal to send more troops on this immoral mission,” said Tracy Glynn, an organizer with the Fredericton Peace Coalition. According to independent investigations such as the Senlis Council, Canadian soldiers continue to kill and be killed while enforcing a rule of warlords, opium producers and former Taliban commanders over the Afghan people.”
Read the rest of this entry »

–Click on the title to see the flash video.

CBS recorded this, but apparently refused to show it, apparently because amid the usual propaganda (the battle is described as one between “Sunni gunmen” and “Iraqi forces”, which precisely reverses the dimensions of the contest), it contains some reality:

–… and they have the nerve to ask about the Venezuelan government not renewing a TV license…

Two British TV journalists embedded with the US Army’s First Cavalry division in Baghdad witnessed Iraqi army soldiers viciously batter helpless Sunni men while Americans cheered them on. After learning they had filmed the extensive affair, the Americans threatened the journalists, held them under armed guard and attempted to seize their footage. Their video was saved, and it includes shocking images of abuse carried out by Shia Iraqi troops under the encouragement of the US soldiers assigned to train them in the field.