–Stop the war, join the protest in the streets.

–Union rates continue to fall in the US. More needs to be done to organise new sections of the economy.

–A great message from CUPE about what the Conservatives have not done for all the people that work for a living in this country.

–CUPE at the World Social Forum in Kenya.

–This is something that everyone should be able to get behind… except those capitalists that run banks.

–More child care spaces are needed throughout the country. We must do this in spite of the attacks on children’s education and working families coming from the Harper government.

–Hardly surprising… however, there are many other areas that people think are important and we must think of them all at the same time… that is we need to find ways of addressing global warming, creating jobs, providing accessible education, and demanding other socialist policies…

–Paul Moist (head of CUPE National) writes why CUPE opposes the privatisation of water in this country and elsewhere. More must be done to educate the people through the lies of the water cartels.

–Employment is dropping, people are getting more health-care, people are being able to buy good food, communities are directly involved with the democratic process, the assemblies have the power, and the revolution continues to move forward. All sounds good to me.

–Once again we see that there is one story coming out of the corporate media here in North America and then there is the reality on the ground. Fisk once again shows that the policies of the imperialist countries do more harm than good… always.

–Your right about that. The idea that a small group of autocrats can restart the talks about a constitution that was soundly rejected by the majority of the people in the European Union should be a clear indication that there is little democracy working at the top.

–It really should say that the US and Israel are trying to do this. The attacks on Iran are not new but are getting more aggressive. We must oppose imperial aggression against Iran.

–The steps should have been taken a long time ago. The unfortunate thing is that many of the poor in North America rely on tuna as a source of protein in their diet and will now have to pay more for this. The call should be for a nationally subsidised food service for the poor of America.

–There is a news release about this on the CanadianNewswire but it is so long that I thought this would do just as well. The opposition from the residents of Saint John is huge to this and it is not affecting the government’s position at all. The amount of money going into this project could make jobs in another industry that would not have such a negative effect on the environment of the community.

JANUARY 26, 2006 — Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister
Stockwell Day made a brief surprise appearance at Canada’s Guantanamo North
(the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre, KIHC) late yesterday afternoon.
The Minister’s handling of the two-month hunger strike at the prison has
met with significant anger across Canada and internationally in recent
weeks.

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–We should all be supporting this call especially since now the government is looking to spend more money on “security”.

Communique 44 from the National Coal Mine Workers’ Union (SINTRACARBON)

Faced with the unequivocal “no” from the Cerrejón company, Sintracarbón continued to demonstrate its desire to negotiate and to sign an acceptable collective bargaining agreement. But the company’s intransigence and arrogance leaves us no alternative but a strike. Our union has the will, the capacity, and the strength to carry it out.

NB Power burns Colombian coal from the Cerrejón company at the Belledune plant. Approx. 16% of NB electricity is generated using this coal. Cerrejón, other Big Coal, and Colombian government officials will be attending the “Coaltrans Americas” convention happening on Key Biscayne, Miami, on Jan. 31-Feb 1. This conference costs over $1200 to atttend. An outside demonstration is being planned. If in the Miami area and you want to participate in the protest, contact tracy@jatam.org

–It seems that there is no democracy left even when it comes to rather mundane laws that are supposed to protect users and producers within the capitalist system. The State seems to think that it is alright to seek the guidance of the companies who’s interests are to limit access to art for advice on copyright law.

–Dirty tricks in the science publishing field. It seems that the for profit journals are going to be using some dirty tricks to try to stop the open access movement (that is the movement that thinks the public should not have to pay to get access to research that it already paid for. The only way that science will continue to be free and open is if we get away from the monopoly that has been built by the restrictive copyright, for-profit publishing model.

This article explains the rampant mill closures in Canada as being rooted in global capitalism. Though the industry is suffering because of a rise in the dollar, increasing energy costs, decreased consumption of lumber products in the U.S., and a global shift in lumber production, the root of the problem lies in the logic of capitalism. Though I would disagree that this consitutes a crisis, Brian Knight writes an excellent article, contextualizing the problems the Canadian lumber industry faces. Especially important is the clear internationalist political line put forward in the article!

I post this in addition to Graham’s post below: Mills won’t get help unless they change: minister.

The ICFI writes a damning critique of the economics and politics of Paul Sweezy, founder of Monthly Review. Sweezy’s politics hinges on his claim that with the advent of monopoly capitalism, the law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall no longer applies. This series of articles critiques his economics and exposes the bankrupt politics embedded in and resulting from it. An important (though not necessarily novel) contribution to the debate between the “monopoly” and the “falling rate of profit” schools!
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–This is not for the people in New Brunswick but for those readers in Ontario you might want to check this forum out that is being put on by the Centre for Social Justice in Toronto. Looks like it will be good.