A most timely article.

“Many of us in the left, particularly in Southasia, have chosen to understand the rise of violent Islamic fundamentalism as a response to poverty, unemployment, poor access to justice, lack of educational opportunities, corruption, loss of faith in the political system, or the sufferings of peasants and workers … The leftwing agenda rests upon hope for a happier and more humane world that is grounded in reason, education and economic justice. It provides a sound moral compass to a world that is losing direction. One must navigate a course safely away from the xenophobes of the US and Europe – who see Islam as an evil to be suppressed or conquered – and also away from the large number of Muslims across the world who justify acts of terrorism and violence as part of asymmetric warfare. No ‘higher authority’ defines the leftwing agenda, and no covenant of belief defines a ‘leftist’. There is no card to be carried or oath to be taken. But secularism, universalistic ideas of human rights, and freedom of belief are non-negotiable. Domination by reasons of class, race, national origin, gender or sexual orientation are all equally unacceptable. In practical terms, this means that the left defends workers from capitalists, peasants from landlords, the colonised from the colonisers, religious minorities from state persecution, the dispossessed from the occupiers, women from male oppression, Muslims from Western Islamophobes, populations of Western countries from terrorists, and so on.”

–It is unfortunate that in a time where access to information is so readily available to those in the West that some still revert back to such ignorant stereotypes of different cultures. The idea that we judge people on where they were born or the particular religious or ethnic identity that they have either chosen or were born into is disgraceful in this day an age, especially in a country that purports to `export’ our values to other areas.

In most cultures, development of civilization has a lot to do with seeking tolerance, challenging ignorance, and finding commonalities to foster peaceful co-existence. However, there are always those in powerful places that bully the weak and seek to keep this development under their iron heel. It is unfortunate that this oppression is usually backed by a corous of parrots that aggressively defend their masters’ actions.

I will not tolerate hateful language directed at groups or individuals on this site.

If you post hate you will be banned.

We are truly a long way from understanding the “north-south global divide”.

–This is a study that was done 2 years ago by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. It explains why it is a bad idea to pay off the debt with budget surpluses… especially ones as large as the current 14 Billion surplus. I cannot stress enough the need for people to read these analyses given the current propaganda around paying the debt off occurring in the national media. A 14 billion dollar surplus is either a result of blithering idiots in the Conservative’s economic policy wing or a planned grab of public money for redistribution to the rich. The majority of the benefit of paying off the debt from tax surpluses goes to the rich.

“One point that none of the pundits and analysts have noted was that, in attacking Syria, Israel committed a blatant act of aggression against its northern neighbour of the kind denounced as the “supreme international crime” by the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal … Also, no one pointed out the obvious double standard applied to Israel’s attack on Syria compared to the far less significant violation of Israeli sovereignty by Hizbullah a year earlier, when the Shia militia captured two Israel soldiers at a border post and killed three more. Hizbullah’s act was widely accepted as justification for the bombardment and destruction of much of Lebanon, even if a few sensitive souls agonised over whether Israel’s response was “disproportionate”. Would these commentators now approve of similar retaliation by Syria?”

After the dust settles I think the following question should be posed: what role did the veto on the UN Security Council play in enabling Myanmar to develop into a garrison state? And then logically: what implications does this hold for the international system?

–Sure, we are doing great things in Afghanistan.

–The environmental practices of the monopoly capitalist forestry corporations are not sustainable or desirable. Sustainable forestry employs more people and has a great impact on the economy. Support local forestry initiatives.

–The President of Bolivia’s speech at the UN.

–What is horrible is that the UK and US have a long history of backing the Burma regime and now they are trying to say that they have always backed democracy there.

–Just goes to show it is all a show.

–Why don’t they just come out and say that the US is actually trying to derail the UN climate conference? They know it is true, they have the facts to back the statement up. Why the niceties?

–There is a crisis but it is a solvable crisis. Taxes need to be used to fund public services and not be used to subsidize corporations.

“[T]he U.S. State Department [has] denounced Ahmadinejad as himself little more than a terrorist. Critics have also cited his statements about the Holocaust or his hopes that the Israeli state will collapse. He has been depicted as a Hitler figure intent on killing Israeli Jews, even though he is not commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces, has never invaded any other country, denies he is an anti-Semite, has never called for any Israeli civilians to be killed, and allows Iran’s 20,000 Jews to have representation in Parliament … [the] head of the International Atomic Energy Agency … told Italian television this week, “Iran does not constitute a certain and immediate threat for the international community.” He stressed that no evidence had been found for underground production sites or hidden radioactive substances, and he urged a three-month waiting period before the U.N. Security Council drew negative conclusions.”

–Read for yourself what the Iranian President said.

–Can’t say I am surprised but it is still an outrage.

The most underemphasised story of the day.

–Imagine if everyone had affordable healthcare… imagine if it was paid for through a progressive tax system instead of redundant private bureaucracies.

“Decades of economically buoyant times have failed to drive up the fortunes of middle-income Canadians, who have found their average earnings stalled … “We’re told we should be grateful for the rich around us, and the result would be a trickle-down effect”"

The Crown seems to think that the court need not examine the entirety of the allegations being put forth, and the court agrees.

“It’s a breach of good faith to the public, to the court, and to the defence counsel”

–Private mercenaries should not be allowed to operate in a war zone.

–Reflections of Castro. Always worth a read.

–… but it must be stopped.

–Duncan Cameron shows us what the NDP win in Quebec means.

–Ya think.

–I think that the working people will be the judge of that. The policies of Neo Labour are not exactly worker friendly.

–The people continue to struggle.

–It is amazing how the media can spin this. Chavez talks to and answers the questions of regular people in Venezuela in front of all … and the media is insisting that this is somehow authoritarian.

–They have the power, it seems. The real question is who is going to pay for the, yet another, rebuilding of Lebanon?

This is a war crime.

Ontarians have been tasked with choosing between the current first-past-the-post system or a hybrid model which includes proportional representation.

“Nearly half of Ontarians say they know nothing about a proposal to change the way the province elects its politicians, but those who do know about it are likely to support it, according to a new poll.”

–Organising to protest a head of another state that does not represent you, is not engaged in a hostile action against you, and that has no intentions of being hostile to you is a strange thing to do. This is especially the case when you are in a state that does represent you, is being hostile to your rights and freedoms, and has the intention of being hostile to you in the future. We must fight against war, fight against reactionary calls for mobilisation, and fight against the actions that limit debate and reasoned analysis.

““All of the issues … like escapes and sea lice, organic pollution, toxic residue in the flesh … all of these things have to do with trying to achieve something that’s impossible – and that’s cheap salmon,” Mr. Volpe says … In order to keep the price of salmon down, he says, the fish farming industry “off loads” costs to the environment”

“It began as a mysterious mission into enemy land, but is quickly becoming Israel’s worst kept secret … And a rare media blackout imposed by Israeli authorities on local journalists has prevented those best placed to find out the truth from reporting it. Any journalist who breaks the code of silence could face jail time … The [Israeli] public assumes something was done and accepts that it shouldn’t be discussed for their own protection. They feel comforted knowing the army succeeded at something”

Israel’s peace movement needs to mobilize and demand an end to this nonsense.

Activists arrested and police on horseback disperse press conference after ANSWER coalition organizers bring attention to $30,000 fine slapped on organizers as they leaflet for protest on Sept. 15. A day earlier George Bush’s daughter gives an undisturbed press conference in the same spot over political oppression in Myanmar.