Alternative News
Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.
The demand for oil is declining
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- Published on Thursday, 15 October 2020 13:12
- Written by editor
Paov,
Latest reports by the International Energy Agency predict that the global demand for oil is rapidly declining. And, that if our governments take climate change seriously, it will keep declining after the pandemic.1
So, why is the federal government still wasting tens of billions of dollars on the Trans Mountain pipeline?
Sign the petition now to tell federal leaders to defund the Trans Mountain pipeline.
We’ve always known that Trans Mountain would be a disaster for the climate. Now, it’s becoming apparent that it doesn’t even make economic sense. An opinion piece published in the CBC today broke it down in the clearest words possible: “building the Trans Mountain Expansion Project is in no one's interest.”2
In the middle of a global pandemic, climate emergency, and economic recession, the last thing the government should be spending billions of public dollars on is a climate-wrecking pipeline.
Thousands of people have already signed the petition but we have an ambitious goal to reach 10,000 signatures before the end of the month.
Add your name now to call on federal party leaders to work together...
Why Democracy Needs Critical Thinking
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- Published on Thursday, 15 October 2020 11:36
- Written by editor
© Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty
In classrooms throughout the world, dedicated and principled teachers are helping to cultivate thoughtful, empathetic, and self-confident citizens. All too often, teachers are doing this in the face of government-backed censorship—and even violence—on the one hand, and declining wages on the other. Because we know that supporting teachers today helps secure democratic and open societies for tomorrow, Open Society is committed to not only supporting educators, but working to make sure that the environment outside the classroom respects and honors their essential contributions.
The Electric Car Comes to Oakville: A Closer Look at a Feel-Good Story
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- Published on Thursday, 15 October 2020 11:20
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2216 ... October 15, 2020
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The Electric Car Comes to Oakville: A Closer Look at a Feel-Good Story
Sam Gindin
Major auto bargaining has long been one of the most-hyped events in Canada’s labour calendar; historically rich in drama and closely watched for shifts in the flow of class conflict. Opening the latest round this summer, Jerry Dias, the head of Unifor, worked again to rev up interest in the negotiations, pugnaciously warning the ‘Detroit Three’ (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) that the recent history of repeated concessions was over:
"We gave up jobs, we froze wages, we made changes on our benefit plan, there were a whole host of workplace issue changes, but frankly that’s not in the cards [this time]... These are companies that have been printing money ... so this is about progress for working class people."
As it happened, interest in the new collective agreement was comparatively modest, and little public commentary surfaced on the extent of "progress for working class people." In part, this reflected the longer-term decline in the leading role autoworkers have...
Read more: The Electric Car Comes to Oakville: A Closer Look at a Feel-Good Story
Canada has a jury diversity problem.
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- Published on Wednesday, 14 October 2020 12:00
- Written by editor
Dear Friend,
Jury diversity is vital for a fair trial. It limits racial bias and promotes jury impartiality.
But Canadian juries are not diverse.
Last week, we were at the Supreme Court of Canada to fight for jury diversity. In R v. Chouhan, the Court was asked to determine whether a law passed last year abolishing peremptory challenges was constitutional.
Peremptory challenges allowed defendants to block some jurors from participating in the trial. Racialized defendants frequently used them to diversify juries and decrease racial bias. This tool is necessary because juries in Canada tend to be overwhelmingly white and there are very few protections for jury diversity. Black and Indigenous people are overrepresented as accused, yet underrepresented on juries.
By abolishing peremptory challenges, it became harder for defendants to receive a fair and impartial trial.
We recently spoke with our pro bono lawyer on the case, Joshua Sealy-Harrington, about what’s at stake in the case, and why...
New Book Off Press from New Society Publishers
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- Published on Wednesday, 14 October 2020 11:02
- Written by editor
Common Sense Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Your Organization
Now Off Press! Order before October 13th and receive a 20% Discount
An excellent resource for all those who are committed to equity
-- Paul Kivel, author, Uprooting Racism In The Token: Common Sense Ideas for Creating Diversity in Your Organization, Crystal Byrd Farmer, acts as the bridge between majority-white organizations that are dedicated to social justice and affirmative action and the diverse people in community they want to recruit.
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Donald J. Trump: A Response to Bryan Palmer
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- Published on Wednesday, 14 October 2020 03:12
- Written by editor
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2215 ... October 14, 2020
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The Eighteenth Brumaire of Donald J. Trump: A Response to Bryan Palmer
Clyde W. Barrow
Bryan Palmer’s recent contribution to The Bullet (September 28, 2020) offers an interpretation of Donald Trump’s class politics, which purports to challenge my comparison of Donald Trump and Louis Napoleon III as Emperors of the Lumpenproletariat (August 30, 2020). Palmer argues that Trump is better understood as the Stalin of Capitalist Counter-Revolution. Despite our different choice of dictators as competing points of comparison, Palmer agrees that "there is much in The Eighteenth Brumaire, as Barrow insists insightfully, that translates easily into an assessment of Donald Trump." Nevertheless, he is "not convinced that presenting Trump, as Marx does Louis Philippe Bonaparte, as the chief of a déclassé lumpen proletariat, their Emperor brought to power and domination, is useful."
Palmer’s essay raises three objections to my analysis of Trump as Chief and future Emperor of the Lumpenproletariat. First, he argues that by focusing on Trump and the lumpenproletariat, I fall prey to Trump’s theatrics and deflect attention away from the capitalist...
Read more: The Eighteenth Brumaire of Donald J. Trump: A Response to Bryan Palmer
VIDEO: Rally with hereditary Leaders of Wet'suwet'en
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- Published on Tuesday, 13 October 2020 17:54
- Written by editor
Matriarchs and Wet'suwet'en leaders talk fracked gas impacts and Indigenous resistance
It was so great to see so many of you at last night's rally with Wet'suwet'en leaders Na'moks, Kalaset and Madeek. More than 700 people joined the call to hear front line stories and get legal updates about the Judicial Review - underway now. If you missed it, check out this video to get a first hand account of why the Nation is in the B.C.Supreme Court to push back against fracked gas projects on their territory.
It was heartwarming to be able to deliver more than 4,000 messages of support and gratitude from the RAVEN community to chiefs. We have raised an astonishing $30k in just one week to contribute to Wet'suwet'en's legal costs for this critical case. Your words, your presence and your contributions add up to a great blanket of love and support that we wrap around Wet'suwet'en leaders as they tough it out in court.
Read more: VIDEO: Rally with hereditary Leaders of Wet'suwet'en
Not Completely a Company Town
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- Published on Tuesday, 13 October 2020 01:52
- Written by editor
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2214 ... October 13, 2020
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Not Completely a Company Town
Herman Rosenfeld
Peter Findlay’s documentary film Company Town provides a welcome opening to initiate discussion and debate about the closure of General Motor’s once massive (it had 23,000 workers at one time) and historically central auto and truck complex and supplier plants. Behind the film’s basic narrative is a countdown from the period between the announcement (November 2018) of the closure and the actual end of production (December 2019). It creates space to raise issues such as the power and strategic orientation of the union and its leadership, the nature of the industry and competition in this era of late neoliberal capitalism, the consciousness and lives of auto and parts workers, and the possibilities of alternatives.
The story line is told on a number of different levels: the failed efforts of the national union leadership to deal with the crisis (particularly focusing on Unifor national president Jerry Dias); a group of individual workers affected by the closure; and an alternative movement championed by a small group of activists, personified...
Covid, Capitalism & Ecology: A conversation with Mike Davis and Rob Wallace
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- Published on Monday, 12 October 2020 07:02
- Written by editor
Read more: Covid, Capitalism & Ecology: A conversation with Mike Davis and Rob Wallace
Youre Our Inspiration
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- Published on Monday, 12 October 2020 06:16
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Learn more
How Rihanna and Global Citizens Stepped Up for Education
Read more: Youre Our InspirationWhy Were on a Long Road to COVID-19 Immunity Even With Vaccines
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- Published on Monday, 12 October 2020 02:14
- Written by editor
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2213 ... October 12, 2020
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Why We’re on a Long Road to COVID-19 Immunity Even With Vaccines
Prabir Purkayastha
As the pandemic continues to spread throughout the world, many countries seem to have given up the fight against COVID-19 and are now waiting for a vaccine to protect against the virus. With cases exceeding 37 million, and more than a million dead, the world economy has taken a bigger hit than at any other time since the end of the Great Depression of 1929-39.
The US and India are now showing the highest numbers of total and new cases of COVID-19. Both have stopped talking about how to stop the pandemic, and are only focusing on reopening -- or as India calls it, "unlockdown."
Giving up on containing the COVID-19 pandemic is an admission that public health systems have failed. India, with a poor public health infrastructure, has one of the most privatized healthcare systems in the world. The US has the most privatized healthcare system among wealthy countries, with poor outcomes. It is not surprising then that...
Read more: Why Were on a Long Road to COVID-19 Immunity Even With Vaccines
Eco-Socialist Futures /w Dimitri Lascaris
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- Published on Sunday, 11 October 2020 02:46
- Written by editor
~~~~~~~~~~(((( The Scarlet Standard ))))~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project podcast ... No. 3 ... October 11, 2020
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Eco-Socialist Futures /w Dimitri Lascaris
In this episode we speak with Dimitri Lascaris about his experience running for leader of the Green Party of Canada as an eco-socialist. We also delve into eco-socialism’s intersections with internationalist foreign policy, the COVID-19 health crisis, and the future of the Canadian left.
Dimitri Lascaris is an activist, author, and former class-action lawyer focused on environmental and human rights law. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Real News Network, and served as the Green Party Justice Critic since 2016. He placed a close second to Annamie Paul in the October 2020 Green Party of Canada Leadership Race.
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You did this!
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- Published on Saturday, 10 October 2020 04:10
- Written by editor
A,
I have some great news for you -- thanks to your efforts, last month’s Speech from the Throne was the most progressive in a generation. And now that we know that the NDP will back the government, we can celebrate.
Your pressure calling for a Green and Just Recovery made a difference.
This summer, members like you supported a COVID-safe protest on Parliament Hill with hundreds of handmade windmills representing over 15,000 SumOfUs members calling for an end to oil subsidies and a push for a Just Recovery.
Not only that, almost 1,000 members sent personalized messages, with a windmill, directly to Trudeau’s office. Check out this video we made about the action.
Then, when Trudeau prorogued Parliament, you took the momentum from the summer to show Minister Freeland, the new Finance Minister, to ensure the Speech from the Throne included the principles for a Green and Just Recovery. Over 2,000...
What does this election mean for the Police Act Review?
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- Published on Friday, 09 October 2020 10:08
- Written by editor
Dear Friend,
I thought that I'd be writing to you today about our submissions for the Police Act review that was going to take place in BC. But in late September, the legislature in BC was dissolved and a provincial election was called.
An election call ends any work being done by different legislative committees. The work of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act has ended.
You probably have some questions about how BC’s provincial government is going to address the systemic harms of policing after this election. There is a lot that is unknown right now.
One thing is certain: no matter who wins this election, we will press the future government to protect the human rights and liberties of those communities who are most impacted by police violence and push for radical transformation to end the harms of policing.
This includes ensuring that all laws, including the Police Act, fall in line with...
Read more: What does this election mean for the Police Act Review?
4 Barriers to Accessing Mental Health Services Around the World
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- Published on Friday, 09 October 2020 04:32
- Written by editor
READ
4 Barriers to Accessing Mental Health Services Around the World
...Read more: 4 Barriers to Accessing Mental Health Services Around the World
Mass bee extinction
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- Published on Friday, 09 October 2020 04:30
- Written by editor
Hi A,
Beekeepers are alarmed: 4 million honey bees just died overnight in Italy. If we want to save the bees, we need to get Bayer’s toxic pesticides banned now, before it’s too late.
We have a plan to do exactly that, but we can’t pull it off without your help. Can you chip in to save the bees?
If you’ve saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately:
Donate CA$93 nowDonate another amount
Thanks for all that you do,
Anne and the team at SumOfUs
See our last email for more details:
It’s a bee massacre: A third of our honeybees are lost each year. There's just one way to stop it: a total ban of Bayer’s toxic pesticides.
If we can collect one million signatures for a European Citizens’ Initiative to save the bees, the EU will be forced to listen to us.
Can you chip in to save the...
How Ecuadors Democracy Is Being Suffocated
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- Published on Friday, 09 October 2020 03:04
- Written by editor
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2212 ... October 9, 2020
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How Ecuador’s Democracy Is Being Suffocated
Vijay Prashad and Pilar Troya
A recent poll showed that if Andrés Arauz Galarza were allowed to run in Ecuador’s presidential election of 2021, he would win in the first round with 45.9 per cent of the vote. The pollsters found that Arauz -- who was the minister of knowledge and human talent from 2015 to 2017 -- wins across "all the social strata and regions of the country, with a slight weakness among the richest voters in the country."
Andrés Arauz entered policymaking and government when Rafael Correa was the president of the country, from 2007 to 2017. A stint at the Central Bank led to a career in the planning department (SENPLADES), before Arauz became a minister in the last two turbulent years of Correa’s government. There was not a whiff of corruption or incompetence around Arauz in his decade of service; when Correa left office, Arauz went to Mexico to pursue a PhD at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Far behind Arauz...
More Articles...
- And now for some good news
- Can you add your name today to demand Trudeau defund the Trans Mountain pipeline?
- The Amazon is burning – and one mans fanni
- Ontario Urgently Needs Money for Hospitals
- Mass bee extinction
- For an Egalitarian, Cooperative Road to an Ecosocialist Future
- I heard your voices
- BC election voting information
- Naomi Klein on Trump's Shock Election Politics:
- Community Fridges and Mutual Aid Amid the Pandemic
