–For the so-called Left that supports Ron Paul.

–Robert Fisk. Always telling the truth.

–Tariq Ali talks of the new developments in Pakistan after the PPP stays in the Bhutto family. The people deserve better.

–This seems like an obvious outcome of the Saskatchewan Party winning the elections in that province. The reality is that it is better to fight with a regressive NDP government than it is to be sidelined by a conservative party by another name. The working people of Saskatchewan must start looking to rebuild their socialist voice within the Sask NDP.

Appointing another “chairperson for life” is not the way forward for the Pakistan Peoples Party. Instituting democratic reforms within the party is of the utmost importance at this stage.

Picket lines start on January 2 and a strike vote is on its way. Let’s show our support for the professors.

Canada’s Sweetheart: the Saga of Hal C. Banks (1985) is a docudrama about the Seafarers’ International Union and its corrupt, Al Capone-like American leader, Harold Banks. It was co-written, produced and directed by legendary Canadian film maker, Donald Brittain. This film was based on the true story of American trade unionist, Harold C. Banks, turned Canadian labour leader in the 1950s and 1960s. The story is rife with political intrigue, corruption, scandal, and organized crime. Essentially, a convicted felon with a shady past is allowed into Canada to destroy the Canadian Seaman’s Union. It started with chains, bats, and pitched battles between communists and thugs (one such battle occurred in S.J. New Brunswick), and ends with fat-cat corruption and the complicity of the Federal Government. The true story and the film has all the trappings of a film-noir, or gangster inspired film, but these cinematic themes, and all the codes that they command, misses the broader, more important commentary that this chapter in Canadian history necessitates. This film is actually considered part of a minority genre known as working-class or labour films, but you’d never know it. Donald Brittain’s commentary overlooks key concepts in labour history that could have accentuated his film’s message.

An example of public sector professionals fighting back. They deserve our support!

–It is not often that I link to liberal magazine websites and not have something scathing to say but this article is rather fun (if taken tongue in cheek). The point? Why is it that “free trade” only applies to the lower end jobs and not the “professional working class”? If we follow the logic of market fundamentalists the editors of the NYT, doctors, lawyers, and professors all get paid too much and their wages should be put on the chopping block just like the rest of the working class…

The not-so-funny aspect of this is that most professionals are under the weight of free trade policies. Public sector professionals are not keeping pace with inflation either (but they are keeping their jobs which is more than we can say for the rest of the working class in this province).

We should remind the “professional” affluent working class that their futures are dependent on the struggle of the rest of us. We should especially focus on those apologists for neo-liberal policy within the so-called academia.

–Yoshie from MRZine has posted that, as of now, the only “stable” state in the Middle East is Iran. The strange thing is that imperialism is the cause of almost all that destabilization. One wonders how the imperial countries’ administrations can continue to claim that they are trying to help… and have people believe them.

–The “analysis” part of the title might be a bit much but it is a little more background to what is happening. More here from Bloomberg.

–No end to blind optimism coming from the Conservatives. Even when the sinking super-tanker is speeding-up its decent the captains of our canoe (that is firmly attached to that tanker) is still pretending that it is full steam ahead. There is nothing in the capitalist’s bag of tricks that can save the working people from these market “corrections”. We need real economic planning and socialists are the only ones with the analysis that can give it.

–Tariq Ali talks more indepth and with more knowledge than most. Definitely worth a read.

For more background: See his article in the London Review of Books on Bhutto and the “marriage” forced by the US between her and the present dictator.

“It was Bhutto’s first public meeting in Rawalpindi since she came back to the country … In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted security forces in Rawalpindi, where Musharraf stays and the Pakistan army has its headquarters.”

Benazir Butto’s assassination has further weakened the democratic political process in Pakistan, and the country is on the verge of collapse. Restoring the country’s constitution and following it is the only way forward.

“Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, urged Turkey this week to find a “peaceful” solution to the conflict with the PKK.”

Now, as then, childhood is incompatible with capitalism, and the first proletarians who come under attack by capital are the children of the working class. In the U.S., since the Reagan-Bush years there has been a consistent tendency to consider children as little adults, whether in courts, markets, or social policy, on issues ranging from trying juveniles like adults to withdrawing social benefits for children. The most recent example of this was Bush’s veto on expanding the children’s insurance program, S-Chip, which would have provided health coverage to children whose families cannot afford it.

“More than 30 people have been reported killed by cluster bomb and land mine explosions since the 2006 war.”

“A counterintelligence source told Arab News the likeliest suspects are pro-Taleban militants, who have stepped up attacks against the government in retaliation for operations against them in the border areas near Afghanistan.”

The Pakistani military has brought this upon its itself, it must start respecting the country’s constitution.

Interesting read about Quebec’s large cooperative movement. The forestry cooperatives are of specific interest for New Brunswickers thinking of alternative models after several catastrophic private capital failures.

“Israel plans to build 740 new homes in settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, a minister said, despite its commitment to freeze all settlement activity.”

Israel’s theocratic tendencies are at the core of these oppressive actions.

“Nearly half of those deaths, 31, took place in Iraq, which was ranked as the deadliest country for journalists for the fifth consecutive year. Most of the killings were targeted attacks, as opposed to deaths caused by cross-fire, according to the committee … Since the war began in March 2003, 124 journalists and 49 support staff members have been killed in Iraq”

“12,000 Americans [were] deemed a possible threat to national security”

“Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Saturday in the third confirmed cross-border offensive by Turkish forces in less than a week”

“By the end of the year, 75,000 children had resorted to living in camps or temporary shelters.”

This is the generation that will one day inherit the country.

“The Petrocaribe initiative allows signatory countries to defer payment on 40% of the oil they buy from Venezuela for up to 25 years, paying interest of only 1%.”

Also see: Caribbean cost of living crisis | BBC Caribbean

“[T]he rising cost of oil on the world market [is] having a traceable trickle-down effect on just about everything, especially in small countries which import most of what they consume.”

“The UN says fighting between insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces in the capital, Mogadishu, has created Africa’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

The significance of this statement should not be lost on the international community.

“The blast was the latest in a series of attacks that suggests that a state of emergency declared by President Pervez Musharraf last month has largely failed to halt terrorist attacks.”

Also see: Gates warns of Al Qaeda shift | Los Angeles Times

“[I]nsurgents in Afghanistan are now turning to Pakistan”

It is safe to say that the strategy employed by the U.S. and Pakistan is actually creating greater instability.

“In Palestine, Christian and Muslims have lived together in harmony for centuries, and particularly in Bethlehem”

Also see: Israel considers new settlement | BBC

This article includes a fairly detailed map of the Greater Jerusalem Area. It is incredible to see just how the Israeli wall meanders between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Jesus would not be amused, and neither are the Palestinians.

A little reminder from our recent history.

Columnist Dan Benoit from the Miramichi Leader echoes the millworkers call for expropriation and reminds our Premier of a well known precedent set in NB’s recent history. The Kouchibouguac National Park fiasco sent hundreds of families packing becaues government expropriated their property. What? The Provincial and Federal government can evict families from their own land, but when it comes to a delinquent company like UPM, we suddenly don’t have the law on our side. Interesting.

The Premier has a choice here, stand by and do nothing and betray your true loyalties, i.e. int’l shareholders or stand on the side of working NBers and do the right thing.

Only a few posts so far, but it’s an interesting inside view of the fight that has just begun in Miramichi.

–A great article by our very own Chris Walker. Have a read of the latest article of the Citizens’ Press.

–Support the workers. No, really. It is just that simple. Solidarity goes a long way… even across oceans.

–They are, of-course, not responsible for anything (except the economic viability of the current US economic system) to do with the Mortgage Crisis. However, that does not stop the fascist tendencies of American “middle class defenders” in their corporate media from blaming them. Yep, if you can’t blame racial groups, you can certainly blame those “immigrants” for all the problems of America. Where are all the sane people that we keep being told live somewhere in the US?

–Sarko is a nutto. You really have to wonder if peace and security are ever part of the long term decision making processes of these leaders.