Antonio Gramsci and Dwight Eisenhower probably didn't have a whole lot in common, but both of them warned us about the rise of fascism.
Of course Dwight had enough couth to avoid calling a spade a spade. He turned "fascism" into the military-industrial-complex.
Perhaps it's not quite that simple, but it's obvious, at least beyond the Beltway, that we've made it!
You see the war-mongers picking at scabs all around the world, hoping to stir things up. War-mongers today come almost exclusively from the war-profiteer class.
Which is to say they stand to profit from war, war preparations, war reparations, ceasefires, peace-keepers, negotiators, arbitrators, and war crimes of every description.
Age-old enmities may still play out on the field of battle, but today age-old enmities are typically financed by the new age war profiteers.
There's big money in hate.
Big money in war.
Is the USA a fascist state?
Thursday, April 3, 2014
The Israel-Palestine "peace process" in plain English
In plain English, one side has stolen land and resources belonging to the other and refuses to give them up. The thief is supported by powerful external agencies, while the losing side has no equivalent support. In this situation, it would be normal to call on an independent force or arbiter to compel the thief to return the stolen goods, and "compromise" would not be applicable.
But in the peace process as configured by those on the side of the thief, there is no independent agency, only an "arbiter" whose starting point is one of total commitment to the thief's welfare. How then, to solve the conflict that has arisen because of the robbery, but without penalising the robber or forcing him to return the booty? That, in essence, is where the problem lies for Kerry and his predecessors.
That's from a story at AJE today by Ghada Karmi, and it is perhaps the most succinct summary ever of this never-ending imaginary "peace process".
But in the peace process as configured by those on the side of the thief, there is no independent agency, only an "arbiter" whose starting point is one of total commitment to the thief's welfare. How then, to solve the conflict that has arisen because of the robbery, but without penalising the robber or forcing him to return the booty? That, in essence, is where the problem lies for Kerry and his predecessors.
That's from a story at AJE today by Ghada Karmi, and it is perhaps the most succinct summary ever of this never-ending imaginary "peace process".
Grooming Cuban "smart mobs" in the service of American Empire
The Associated Press has a fascinating story about how various US agencies set up a social media network in Cuba in an attempt to groom "smart mobs" to destabilize Cuba.
The ZunZuneo network operated for several years and was eventually shut down as its creators grew skittish about being discovered by Cuban security. The project was as usual well-concealed from the US taxpayer who was footing the bill.
There are a couple of salient points to take away from this story.
The US government literally knows no limits when it comes to deceiving its own citizens and the world at large about clandestine programs designed to stir up trouble in other countries.
There is no reluctance on the part of the tech community to participate in and profit from these unethical initiatives. That should be particularly worrying to those Americans who are unneasy with the increasingly cosy relationship between "big technology" and big government.
AP has discovered this particular plot aimed at destabilizing Cuba, but there can be no doubt that similar projects are in play in many other countries.
Read the full story here;
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SECRET_CUBAN_TWITTER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-03-18-29-30
The ZunZuneo network operated for several years and was eventually shut down as its creators grew skittish about being discovered by Cuban security. The project was as usual well-concealed from the US taxpayer who was footing the bill.
There are a couple of salient points to take away from this story.
The US government literally knows no limits when it comes to deceiving its own citizens and the world at large about clandestine programs designed to stir up trouble in other countries.
There is no reluctance on the part of the tech community to participate in and profit from these unethical initiatives. That should be particularly worrying to those Americans who are unneasy with the increasingly cosy relationship between "big technology" and big government.
AP has discovered this particular plot aimed at destabilizing Cuba, but there can be no doubt that similar projects are in play in many other countries.
Read the full story here;
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SECRET_CUBAN_TWITTER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-03-18-29-30
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Canada's shameful treatment of her veterans
With all their effusive lip service to the sacrifices made by "our heroic men and women in uniform," you'd expect that the Harper gang would score high marks for how they treat our veterans.
You'd be wronger than wrong.
The National Post has a story today about veterans being coerced into signing a confidentiality agreement as a condition to getting service from the Joint Personnel Support Unit. Isn't that rich! These are folks who suffered grievously to serve their country. Every one of them thought they were fighting for freedom and democracy, those Canadian values that Harper and Baird can't ever stop talking about.
But apparently it just won't do to allow Canada's veterans the freedom to criticize the Canadian military in this free and democratic nation.
Freedom of speech isn't something we actually want our veterans to enjoy. It's something they can fight and die for in Afghanistan, but it's a little too risky to let loose in Canada.
The Harper gang's shabby treatment of veterans goes right back to the earliest days of the Harper regime, with the passage of Bill C-45 in 2005, and continues unabated to this day.
Meanwhile, it's full speed ahead for a garish statue on the Cape Breton coast celebrating the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform...
The hypocrisy is mind boggling.
You'd be wronger than wrong.
The National Post has a story today about veterans being coerced into signing a confidentiality agreement as a condition to getting service from the Joint Personnel Support Unit. Isn't that rich! These are folks who suffered grievously to serve their country. Every one of them thought they were fighting for freedom and democracy, those Canadian values that Harper and Baird can't ever stop talking about.
But apparently it just won't do to allow Canada's veterans the freedom to criticize the Canadian military in this free and democratic nation.
Freedom of speech isn't something we actually want our veterans to enjoy. It's something they can fight and die for in Afghanistan, but it's a little too risky to let loose in Canada.
The Harper gang's shabby treatment of veterans goes right back to the earliest days of the Harper regime, with the passage of Bill C-45 in 2005, and continues unabated to this day.
Meanwhile, it's full speed ahead for a garish statue on the Cape Breton coast celebrating the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform...
The hypocrisy is mind boggling.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
How the plutocrats are saving the planet
Popular wisdom, at least in the alternative media, has the plutocrats destroying the livelihoods and the lives of regular folks in the hundreds of millions.
What a shamefully unbalanced world view.
The uber-rich aren't wrecking the world, they're saving it!
Join me aboard the way-back machine as we go way back in time to the 60's and 70's.
That was the high-water mark for workers' living standards.
Your pinko commentators want you to believe that it's been all down-hill since then.
Well, if you're a worker, that's probably right.
Whereas once you could afford a car, now you can afford a cell-phone.
Whereas once you could afford a bungalow in the burbs, now you can afford a basement apartment.
But stop being so selfish. Step back a few paces and have a look at the big picture.
Let's have a look at the lifestyle of the typical worker circa 1968.
That's when regular factory workers used to own their own homes. Like, what the fuck is wrong with that picture? Where did the masses ever get the idea that workers needed to own homes? You're a worker, for fucks sakes! It was just an unfortunate accident of geography that prevented the cardboard box your new fridge came in from becoming an addition to your home. A nice spare room for the kids.
That cardboard room may not work out well in Detroit or Kenosha, but it works pretty well in Mexico!
That mid-century burst of prosperity gave lots of undeserving folks the idea, largely propagated by unions, that they needed something other than a cardboard box to live in.
And then there is the matter of cars. By the 60's the idea that they had to own a car, or even two, was a virtual entitlement among the laboring classes, especially the unionized ones. And look at the cars they gravitated to; hemi-Chargers, 427 Camaros, Mach 1 Mustangs... the working classes were utterly fixated on cars that got 8 miles to a gallon of fuel!
Fast forward to the modern era. Factory hands no longer drive 427 Camaros; they take the bus! Multiply that by 75 million Americans no longer able to afford a car, and just imagine the savings in greenhouse gasses!
Sure, where thousands of Cat employees were once able to own cars, even nice ones, we're now down to a couple dozen guys at head office with Bentleys and Porsches, but greenhouse gas is WAY down. The cars may still get 8 mpg, but at least the folks driving them deserve them.
And relatively speaking there's hardly any of them on the road.
Here's another market that is thankfully gone; recreational boating. Back in the 60s the Detroit River all the way down to Lake Erie and all the up to St. Clair was just plugged with Ford workers piloting their very own 30 foot Chris-Crafts. Like what the fuck was that all about? Factory dudes with yachts?
Does anybody really think that was sustainable?
Here's what's sustainable; a few hundred billionaires with environmentally friendly mega-yachts, instead of a few million factory yobs with 30 foot Chrissies.
How can anyone argue this is bad for the planet?
The Detroit River is much safer and much quieter today, with the few factory types who still find their way there sticking close to shore in their 14 foot canoes.
So next time you step outside for a breath of fresh air, remember that the air is only fresh because of the efforts of the few, the rich, the plutocrats. When they're turning those $25/hr union jobs into $10/hr jobs in a "right to work" state, they're doing all of us a favor.
What a shamefully unbalanced world view.
The uber-rich aren't wrecking the world, they're saving it!
Join me aboard the way-back machine as we go way back in time to the 60's and 70's.
That was the high-water mark for workers' living standards.
Your pinko commentators want you to believe that it's been all down-hill since then.
Well, if you're a worker, that's probably right.
Whereas once you could afford a car, now you can afford a cell-phone.
Whereas once you could afford a bungalow in the burbs, now you can afford a basement apartment.
But stop being so selfish. Step back a few paces and have a look at the big picture.
Let's have a look at the lifestyle of the typical worker circa 1968.
That's when regular factory workers used to own their own homes. Like, what the fuck is wrong with that picture? Where did the masses ever get the idea that workers needed to own homes? You're a worker, for fucks sakes! It was just an unfortunate accident of geography that prevented the cardboard box your new fridge came in from becoming an addition to your home. A nice spare room for the kids.
That cardboard room may not work out well in Detroit or Kenosha, but it works pretty well in Mexico!
That mid-century burst of prosperity gave lots of undeserving folks the idea, largely propagated by unions, that they needed something other than a cardboard box to live in.
And then there is the matter of cars. By the 60's the idea that they had to own a car, or even two, was a virtual entitlement among the laboring classes, especially the unionized ones. And look at the cars they gravitated to; hemi-Chargers, 427 Camaros, Mach 1 Mustangs... the working classes were utterly fixated on cars that got 8 miles to a gallon of fuel!
Fast forward to the modern era. Factory hands no longer drive 427 Camaros; they take the bus! Multiply that by 75 million Americans no longer able to afford a car, and just imagine the savings in greenhouse gasses!
Sure, where thousands of Cat employees were once able to own cars, even nice ones, we're now down to a couple dozen guys at head office with Bentleys and Porsches, but greenhouse gas is WAY down. The cars may still get 8 mpg, but at least the folks driving them deserve them.
And relatively speaking there's hardly any of them on the road.
Here's another market that is thankfully gone; recreational boating. Back in the 60s the Detroit River all the way down to Lake Erie and all the up to St. Clair was just plugged with Ford workers piloting their very own 30 foot Chris-Crafts. Like what the fuck was that all about? Factory dudes with yachts?
Does anybody really think that was sustainable?
Here's what's sustainable; a few hundred billionaires with environmentally friendly mega-yachts, instead of a few million factory yobs with 30 foot Chrissies.
How can anyone argue this is bad for the planet?
The Detroit River is much safer and much quieter today, with the few factory types who still find their way there sticking close to shore in their 14 foot canoes.
So next time you step outside for a breath of fresh air, remember that the air is only fresh because of the efforts of the few, the rich, the plutocrats. When they're turning those $25/hr union jobs into $10/hr jobs in a "right to work" state, they're doing all of us a favor.
Building a nation on the backs of Temporary Foreign Workers
BC Premier Christy Clark was in Ottawa yesterday signing an agreement that greenlights in advance the unlimited use of Temporary Foreign Workers in the development of Liquified Natural Gas infrastructure.
This is a stab in the back to all Canadian workers and a betrayal of those Canadian employers who do make the investment in training their workforce.
Here is an except from the Vancouver Sun;
OTTAWA — B.C.’s natural resources sector, including the budding liquefied natural gas industry, was declared to be in Canada’s strategic interests Monday as part of a non-binding federal-provincial deal that includes a commitment to encourage the active use of the Temporary Foreign Worker program.
The accord was signed as Premier Christy Clark, bringing with her what she described as possibly the largest B.C. delegation to Ottawa in Canadian history, declared that the LNG sector could be a “nation-builder” at least as important as Alberta’s oil wealth.
But she said that the industry’s enormous LNG potential depends on access to skilled Canadian and, if necessary, foreign workers.
Without that workforce the industry could look for other opportunities, she warned.
“You cannot build an economy without people who are trained and ready to take those jobs,” she told a gathering of federal and B.C. politicians.
What Canadian politicians should be talking about is their commitment to training Canadians, not their commitment to encouraging the use of Temporary Foreign Workers.
What kind of nation is it that Clark and her Conservative counterparts in Ottawa intend to build? Obviously one in which concerns about the environment and the interests of Canadian workers are a distant afterthought to the "need" of energy and construction conglomerates to maximize their profits.
This is a stab in the back to all Canadian workers and a betrayal of those Canadian employers who do make the investment in training their workforce.
Here is an except from the Vancouver Sun;
OTTAWA — B.C.’s natural resources sector, including the budding liquefied natural gas industry, was declared to be in Canada’s strategic interests Monday as part of a non-binding federal-provincial deal that includes a commitment to encourage the active use of the Temporary Foreign Worker program.
The accord was signed as Premier Christy Clark, bringing with her what she described as possibly the largest B.C. delegation to Ottawa in Canadian history, declared that the LNG sector could be a “nation-builder” at least as important as Alberta’s oil wealth.
But she said that the industry’s enormous LNG potential depends on access to skilled Canadian and, if necessary, foreign workers.
Without that workforce the industry could look for other opportunities, she warned.
“You cannot build an economy without people who are trained and ready to take those jobs,” she told a gathering of federal and B.C. politicians.
What Canadian politicians should be talking about is their commitment to training Canadians, not their commitment to encouraging the use of Temporary Foreign Workers.
What kind of nation is it that Clark and her Conservative counterparts in Ottawa intend to build? Obviously one in which concerns about the environment and the interests of Canadian workers are a distant afterthought to the "need" of energy and construction conglomerates to maximize their profits.
Explaining the Harperite infatuation with Ukraine
Canada's Conservative government has made a point of aligning itself with the un-elected leaders who seized power in Kiev a few weeks ago. In their haste to justify their embrace of the new non-elected leaders, both PM Harper and FM John Baird have made numerous convoluted statements about how the democratically elected Yanukovik government was in fact a dictatorship, while the coup itself was a product not of mob rule and years of US-led agitation, but some more authentic manifestation of true democracy.
The following article was written by Lee Berthiaume and appeared in a number of PostMedia titles on March 5th. It does a great job of showing why an incoherent and contradictory foreign policy is actually the result of opportunistic political maneuvering by the Conservatives.
While it might be understandable that a party declining in popularity would bend over backwards to attract the votes of those million plus Ukrainian-Canadians, they might want to remember that there are over 30 million Canadians who are not of Ukrainian ancestry who might be sufficiently put off by the Harperite grand-standing and double-talk to take their vote somewhere else.
***
“I think you have a lot of Ukrainians who will look at a member of Parliament and say ‘He’s really good for the riding and done a nice job, but the party that he or she comes from failed us on this issue,’ ” said Royal Military College professor and Ukrainian-Canadian Lubomyr Luciuk. “Or the party worked with us on this issue. And that can swing some votes and be decisive.”
Here are a few examples:
Manitoba
In the last election, there were several close results around Winnipeg, where Ukrainian-Canadians represent a significant percentage of the population. None was closer than in Winnipeg North where Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux beat his NDP opponent by just 44 votes. The riding is home to 11,105 Ukrainian-Canadians, representing 13.3 per cent of the population.
Luciuk says Ukrainian-Canadians actually helped Lamoureux win, as the Liberal MP opposed the Holocaust being given higher billing in the Winnipeg-based Canadian Museum for Human Rights than other genocides. That includes the Holodomor, a famine in Ukraine in the 1930s that Canada has recognized as a deliberate genocide perpetrated by Soviet Russia.
“So Lamoureux got some votes because he took a position that was positive,” Luciuk said.
Meanwhile, in the nearby Winnipeg riding of Elmwood-Transcona, Conservative MP Lawrence Toet defeated NDP incumbent Jim Maloway by only 300 votes. The riding counts 16,935 Ukrainian-Canadians, or about 20.6 per cent of the population.
And Conservative MP Joyce Bateman beat Liberal incumbent Anita Neville by 722 votes in nearby Winnipeg South Centre, where 10,240 Ukrainian-Canadians live, representing 13.4 per cent of the population.
Outside Winnipeg, Conservative MP Larry Maguire edged out Liberal challenger Rolf Dinsdale in a byelection in Brandon-Souris in November, 2013. Maguire won by 389 votes, in a riding where 17,360 people, or 11.3 per cent of the population, identified themselves as being of Ukrainian descent.
Saskatchewan
If there’s one riding that screams “Ukraine!” more than any other in Canada, it’s Yorkton-Melville in Saskatchewan. That’s because fully 29.3 per cent of the population self-identifies as being of Ukrainian descent, which is nearly five per cent more than the next closest. But it doesn’t appear Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz has anything to worry about; he’s represented the riding since 1993.
The same can’t be said for some other Saskatchewan MPs, starting with Conservative MP Kelly Block. The representative for Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar defeated her NDP challenger by 538 votes, in a riding where Ukrainian-Canadians number 9,720, or 13.7 per cent of the population.
Fellow Conservative MP Ray Boughen, who represents the riding of Palliser, near Regina, edged out his own NDP challenger by 766 votes. Palliser is home to 7,520 Ukrainian-Canadians, who represent 11.1 per cent of the population.
The following article was written by Lee Berthiaume and appeared in a number of PostMedia titles on March 5th. It does a great job of showing why an incoherent and contradictory foreign policy is actually the result of opportunistic political maneuvering by the Conservatives.
While it might be understandable that a party declining in popularity would bend over backwards to attract the votes of those million plus Ukrainian-Canadians, they might want to remember that there are over 30 million Canadians who are not of Ukrainian ancestry who might be sufficiently put off by the Harperite grand-standing and double-talk to take their vote somewhere else.
***
“I think you have a lot of Ukrainians who will look at a member of Parliament and say ‘He’s really good for the riding and done a nice job, but the party that he or she comes from failed us on this issue,’ ” said Royal Military College professor and Ukrainian-Canadian Lubomyr Luciuk. “Or the party worked with us on this issue. And that can swing some votes and be decisive.”
Here are a few examples:
Manitoba
In the last election, there were several close results around Winnipeg, where Ukrainian-Canadians represent a significant percentage of the population. None was closer than in Winnipeg North where Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux beat his NDP opponent by just 44 votes. The riding is home to 11,105 Ukrainian-Canadians, representing 13.3 per cent of the population.
Luciuk says Ukrainian-Canadians actually helped Lamoureux win, as the Liberal MP opposed the Holocaust being given higher billing in the Winnipeg-based Canadian Museum for Human Rights than other genocides. That includes the Holodomor, a famine in Ukraine in the 1930s that Canada has recognized as a deliberate genocide perpetrated by Soviet Russia.
“So Lamoureux got some votes because he took a position that was positive,” Luciuk said.
Meanwhile, in the nearby Winnipeg riding of Elmwood-Transcona, Conservative MP Lawrence Toet defeated NDP incumbent Jim Maloway by only 300 votes. The riding counts 16,935 Ukrainian-Canadians, or about 20.6 per cent of the population.
And Conservative MP Joyce Bateman beat Liberal incumbent Anita Neville by 722 votes in nearby Winnipeg South Centre, where 10,240 Ukrainian-Canadians live, representing 13.4 per cent of the population.
Outside Winnipeg, Conservative MP Larry Maguire edged out Liberal challenger Rolf Dinsdale in a byelection in Brandon-Souris in November, 2013. Maguire won by 389 votes, in a riding where 17,360 people, or 11.3 per cent of the population, identified themselves as being of Ukrainian descent.
Saskatchewan
If there’s one riding that screams “Ukraine!” more than any other in Canada, it’s Yorkton-Melville in Saskatchewan. That’s because fully 29.3 per cent of the population self-identifies as being of Ukrainian descent, which is nearly five per cent more than the next closest. But it doesn’t appear Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz has anything to worry about; he’s represented the riding since 1993.
The same can’t be said for some other Saskatchewan MPs, starting with Conservative MP Kelly Block. The representative for Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar defeated her NDP challenger by 538 votes, in a riding where Ukrainian-Canadians number 9,720, or 13.7 per cent of the population.
Fellow Conservative MP Ray Boughen, who represents the riding of Palliser, near Regina, edged out his own NDP challenger by 766 votes. Palliser is home to 7,520 Ukrainian-Canadians, who represent 11.1 per cent of the population.
And Liberal MP Ralph Goodale, the only Liberal to have been elected in Saskatchewan since 2006, held onto his seat in Wascana in the last election by just over 1,500 votes. The riding is home to 10,530 people who identify themselves as being of Ukrainian descent, representing 13.1 per cent of the population.
Luciuk says Goodale is an example of an MP who has been a stalwart champion of Ukrainian-Canadian interests and earned the respect of the community, which has translated into continued electoral success.
Ontario
Thunder Bay was the mecca for Ukrainian-Canadians settling in Ontario. The two ridings that surround the northern Ontario city, represented by NDP MP John Rafferty and NDP-turned-Green Party MP Bruce Hyer, are each chockful of people of Ukrainian descent. Both Rafferty and Hyer earned comfortable victories in 2011.
On the other hand, Conservative MP Ted Opitz barely eked out victory in the Toronto-area riding of Etobicoke Centre over Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj, who is of Ukrainian descent. The margin of victory was 26 votes.
Before the election, the Conservatives accidentally released documents that confirmed they were targeting the riding’s Ukrainian-Canadian community, which numbers 7,955 and represents 7.1 per cent of the population.
Luciuk says the Ukrainian-Canadian vote played a critical role in Etobicoke Centre, and while Wrzesnewskyj is a member of the community, this was a situation where party affiliation mattered more than the individual MP’s identity — a situation he says is the norm.
“There were Ukrainian-Canadians working for Ted Opitz against a Ukrainian-Canadian because he was in the wrong party at that time,” Luciuk said. “Whereas the Conservative party was making all the right sounds about things Ukrainian.”
“And I think most Canadians of Ukrainian heritage, even those who would not necessarily politically support (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper if there were an election next week or next month, are looking at his general overall performance on (the current crisis in Ukraine), and saying: ‘Good for you. Thank you Mr. Prime Minister.’ ”
Luciuk says Goodale is an example of an MP who has been a stalwart champion of Ukrainian-Canadian interests and earned the respect of the community, which has translated into continued electoral success.
Ontario
Thunder Bay was the mecca for Ukrainian-Canadians settling in Ontario. The two ridings that surround the northern Ontario city, represented by NDP MP John Rafferty and NDP-turned-Green Party MP Bruce Hyer, are each chockful of people of Ukrainian descent. Both Rafferty and Hyer earned comfortable victories in 2011.
On the other hand, Conservative MP Ted Opitz barely eked out victory in the Toronto-area riding of Etobicoke Centre over Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj, who is of Ukrainian descent. The margin of victory was 26 votes.
Before the election, the Conservatives accidentally released documents that confirmed they were targeting the riding’s Ukrainian-Canadian community, which numbers 7,955 and represents 7.1 per cent of the population.
Luciuk says the Ukrainian-Canadian vote played a critical role in Etobicoke Centre, and while Wrzesnewskyj is a member of the community, this was a situation where party affiliation mattered more than the individual MP’s identity — a situation he says is the norm.
“There were Ukrainian-Canadians working for Ted Opitz against a Ukrainian-Canadian because he was in the wrong party at that time,” Luciuk said. “Whereas the Conservative party was making all the right sounds about things Ukrainian.”
“And I think most Canadians of Ukrainian heritage, even those who would not necessarily politically support (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper if there were an election next week or next month, are looking at his general overall performance on (the current crisis in Ukraine), and saying: ‘Good for you. Thank you Mr. Prime Minister.’ ”
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