Alternative News
Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.
NEW YEARS DAY 2015; LEST WE FORGET THE HARPER GOVERN
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- Published on Thursday, 29 January 2015 16:44
- Written by editor
BY JOAN RUSSOW
GLOBALCOMPLIANCE RESEARCH PROJECT - JANUARY 1, 2015
ELECTION 2015: LEST WE FORGET -THE HARPER GOVERNMENT’S DISMANTLING OF CANADA
SINCE 2006, THE HARPER GOVERNMENT HAS CAUSED THE DISMANTLING OF CANADA AND HAS CONTRIBUTED TO CANADA’S BEING PERCEIVED AS AN INTERNATIONAL PARIAH.
LEADING UP TO THE 2015 FEDERAL ELECTION, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DENOUNCE THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR YEARS OF TRANSGRESSIONS:
HERE IS A BEGINNING LIST.
A. ESCALATING THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT
B. FOSTERING MILITARISM
C. ENTERING INTO SPURIOUS TRADE AGREEMENTS SUCH AS FIPPA WITH CHINA AND CETA WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION
D. DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT
E. CONTRIBUTING TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS NEGLIGENCE
F. VIOLATING HUMAN RIGHTS
G. ENTRENCHING CORPORATISM
A
A ESCALATING THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT
THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR PASSING THE SO-CALLED “FAIR ELECTIONS” ACT WHICH PROVIDE NEW FUNDING LOOPHOLES, UNDERMINES THE ROLE OF THE CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER, PLACES THE ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER THE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE WITHOUT HAVING POWER TO COMPEL WITNESSES, AND ABOVE ALL SUPPRESSES THE VOTE BY REMOVING PROCEDURES THAT FACILITATE THE VOTE.
WE DENOUNCE
THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR FAILING TO PROTECT CHARTER RIGHTS
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/06/26/stephen-harper-charter-rights_n_5534875.html
WE DENOUNCE
THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR BETRAYING AN ABYSMALLY INACCURATE VIEW OF FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL REALITIES,” FOR UNDERMINING THE RIGHT CONDUCT OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY.
http://www.revparl.ca/english/issue.asp?param=208&art=1459
WE DENOUNCE
THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR UNDERMINING ACCESS TO INFORMATION
https://cjfe.org/resources/features/new-report-hollow-right-access-information-crisis
WE DENOUNCE
THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR SPENDING 1.2 BILLION ON THE “SPY PALACE” FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY ESABLISHMENT CANADA (CSEC)
1. Inside Canada's top-secret billion-dollar spy palace - Politics ...
www.cbc.ca/.../inside-canada-s-top-secret-billion-dollar-spy-palace-1.19...
WE DENOUNCE
HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR PERMITTING CSEC TO
ESTABLISH COVERT SURVEILLANCE OPERATIONS WORLDWIDE AS PART OF NSA GLOBAL SPYING APPARATUS
WE DENOUNCE
THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR EMBARKING UPON INCREASED INTRUSIVE SURVEILLANCE OF CANADIAN CITIZEN AND FOR SHARING “INTELLIGENCE WITH OTHER STATES
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/massive-secret-surveillance-canada
WE DENOUNCE
THE HARPER GOVERNMENT FOR BRINGING FORWARD WHAT LAWRENCE MARTIN CALLS THE “LOYALTY ACT”
” A CONSERVATIVE MP HAS BROUGHT FORWARD, WITH THE BLESSING OF THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE, A BILL THAT WOULD REQUIRE PARLIAMENTARY WATCHDOGS AND ALL THEIR EMPLOYEES TO DISCLOSE PREVIOUS POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.
THE PERIOD OF DISCLOSURE WOULD COVER THE DECADE PREVIOUS TO THEIR APPOINTMENTS. THE LEGISLATION WOULD BE RETROACTIVE — MEANING ALL CURRENT EMPLOYEES WOULD EFFECTIVELY HAVE TO SUBMIT TO POLITICAL BACKGROUND CHECKS.”
LAWRENCE MARTIN
HTTP://WWW.IPOLITICS.CA/2014/01/15/NON-CONSERVATIVES-NEED-NOT-APPLY/
Read more: NEW YEARS DAY 2015; LEST WE FORGET THE HARPER GOVERN
The Target way to say good-bye
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- Published on Thursday, 29 January 2015 14:44
- Written by editor
[ACTIVlist] ACTIVlist Update - January 29, 2015
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- Published on Monday, 16 March 2015 13:46
- Written by editor
This daily ACTIVlist e-mail is a compilation of blog posts, media releases and action alerts from the Council of Canadians. For more information about our campaigns, how to get involved, and how to become a member, go to www.canadians.org. Please forward this e-mail and encourage others to join our list! Thank you for your interest and support.
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Energy East could leak 2.6 million litres per day undetected
The Canadian Press is reporting that an independent study of the Energy East pipeline indicates that leaks as large as 2.6 million litres per day could go undetected. The study was commissioned by the MRC d’Autray- a municipal government in Quebec that will be crossed by TransCanada’s proposed pipeline....
PressProgress Post: 8 things that show Conservatives are out of touch with modern families
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- Published on Thursday, 29 January 2015 13:22
- Written by editor
This new post shows how the Tories are out of touch with the modern family - on issues from income-splitting to affordable child care.
As always, please feel free to share with members on Facebook and Twitter:
http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/harpernomics-101-low-income-jobs-growing-high-income-jobs-falling
Twitter option:
Family matters? 8 ways Harper gov is out of touch w/ modern families: http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/harpernomics-101-low-income-jobs-growing-high-income-jobs-falling #cdnpoli #canlab
Cheers,Chris
20 years? That's too long, EPA.
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- Published on Thursday, 29 January 2015 10:00
- Written by editor
...
See you in Chicago
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 January 2015 19:22
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See you in Chicago r1 ...
System Change Not Climate Change news. r33 
2015 SCNCC Convention Notes
It's almost here folks. There's still time to register, particularly if you would like to participate by phone/Internet. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions.
System Change Not Climate Change 2015 Convention
Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2015
Multikulti Community Center
1000 N. Milwaukee Ave., 4th floor
Chicago IL 60642
REGISTER NOW
The SCNCC Convention is for members only, based on agreement with our Points of Unity and dues.
Please be prepared to pay your first installment or full yearly dues to attend.
5 ways Cdn workforce has weakened under Conservative rule
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 January 2015 14:22
- Written by editor
Bad job numbers today - both for December... and dating back to 2006. See below for our analysis of workforce trends since the Harper gov was elected.
As always, please feel free to share with members:
http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/harpernomics-101-low-income-jobs-growing-high-income-jobs-falling
Cheers,Chris
Northern Dene Trappers Alliance Holding The Line
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 January 2015 14:22
- Written by editor
By Idle No More, www.idlenomore.ca
January 28th, 2015
You can follow and support here on the Holding the Ling-Northern Trappers Alliance Facebook Group Page
The Northern Dene Trapper Alliance have been staying in trapper tents for the past 60 days, 10 km north of LaLoche, Saskatchewan along Hwy #955. They established the Camp on November 19, 2014 to show their grave concern over the amount of uranium and oilsands exploration that is taking place in their traditional trapping, hunting, and fishing areas. On November 22, 2014 they erected a checkpoint to prevent vehicles associated with this exploration from going through.
Saskatchewan Government sent a negotiator to the Camp in late November. On December 1, 2014 a dozen RCMP with their hands on their pistols and two video cameras rolling served them an injunction removed the barricade and a trailer from the side of the road. The people at the Camp are not going away. They have been keeping a presence despite the injunction.
More than a dozen exploration companies are cutting roads through the bush, establishing work camps, and drilling. The trappers and local people have been expressing their concern that all of this activity is disrupting their cultural way of life and seriously impacting their ability to get their traditional foods from the land which most people have to depend on to feed their families in a region where the cost of healthy food is high. This year there were very few moose to be found. The Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment states in letters they have sent to the trappers that the impacts of this activity will be low, however when hunters and trappers tried to go out to set their traps in their permitted areas they were stopped by gates and security and told they couldn’t go there.
[ACTIVlist] ACTIVlist Update - January 28, 2015
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- Published on Monday, 16 March 2015 13:46
- Written by editor
This daily ACTIVlist e-mail is a compilation of blog posts, media releases and action alerts from the Council of Canadians. For more information about our campaigns, how to get involved, and how to become a member, go to www.canadians.org. Please forward this e-mail and encourage others to join our list! Thank you for your interest and support.
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MEDIA RELEASE:
Coalition of organizations call for the reinstatement of long-form census
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Trans Pacific Partnership could be signed in March
The negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership - a free trade zone of twelve countries including Canada - could be concluded this March
Water as a right in Delhi Elections
Elections to the Delhi Legislative...
CANADA CASTS GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE DRAGNET OVER FILE DOWNLOADS
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 January 2015 13:00
- Written by editor
BY RYAN GALLAGHER AND GLENN GREENWALD
@rj_gallagher@ggreenwald https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/28/canada-cse-levitation-mass-surveillance/
Canada’s leading surveillance agency is monitoring millions of Internet users’ file downloads in a dragnet search to identify extremists, according to top-secret documents.
The covert operation, revealed Wednesday by CBC News in collaboration with The Intercept, taps into Internet cables and analyzes records of up to 15 million downloads daily from popular websites commonly used to share videos, photographs, music, and other files.
The revelations about the spying initiative, codenamed LEVITATION, are the first from the trove of files provided by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to show that the Canadian government has launched its own globe-spanning Internet mass surveillance system.
According to the documents, the LEVITATION program can monitor downloads in several countries across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and North America. It is led by the Communications Security Establishment, or CSE, Canada’s equivalent of the NSA. (The Canadian agency was formerly known as “CSEC” until a recent name change.)
The latest disclosure sheds light on Canada’s broad existing surveillance capabilities at a time when the country’s government is pushing for a further expansion of security powers following attacks in Ottawa and Quebec last year.
Ron Deibert, director of University of Toronto-based Internet security think tank Citizen Lab, said LEVITATION illustrates the “giant X-ray machine over all our digital lives.”
“Every single thing that you do – in this case uploading/downloading files to these sites – that act is being archived, collected and analyzed,” Deibert said, after reviewing documents about the online spying operation for CBC News.
David Christopher, a spokesman for Vancouver-based open Internet advocacy group OpenMedia.ca, said the surveillance showed “robust action” was needed to rein in the Canadian agency’s operations.
Read more: CANADA CASTS GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE DRAGNET OVER FILE DOWNLOADS
Canada backs violent military regime in Egypt
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 January 2015 13:00
- Written by editor
Egyptian state forces fire on gatherings commemorating 2011 uprising
photo thiên v. Egyptian military helicopter 2013.
photo Hossam el-Hamalawy. Tahrir protest 2011.
In recent days, the deadly nature ofEgypt’s military-backed government is being asserted violently on the streets.
According to Human Rights Watchat least twenty people participating in demonstrations, marking theJanuary 2011 uprising against former dictator Hosni Mubarak, were gunned down by state military and police forces this past weekend.
Canada’s Conservative government has moved clearly to diplomatically bolster the authoritarian regime in Cairo over the past year. Foreign minister John Baird’s two official visits to the country, aiming to boost political and economic links, failed to seriously address the human rights disaster facing Egypt,described by the Committee to Protect Journalists as an atmosphere with “zero tolerance for dissent or criticism.”
Canada has even failed to fully prioritize the release of Mohamed Fahmy, the high-profile Canadian Al Jazeera journalist who recently won Canada's Committee for World Press Freedom award. Now jailed for over a year, along with two Al Jazeera colleagues, Fahmy’s case occurs as part of the larger crackdown on freedom of the press in Egypt, again highlighted this past weekend by the arrests of journalists covering revolution anniversary protests.
Rapid Transit Rip-Off
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 21:44
- Written by editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1073 .... January 28, 2015
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Rapid Transit Rip-Off
How Kathleen Wynne became a transit privateer, and what we need to do to get back on track
Brenda Thompson
Campaigning for re-election in April 2014, Liberal leader and Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne announced that Ontario would invest $29-billion in roads and transit. She did not make this announcement from the Office of the Premier at Queen's Park or at Metrolinx (Ontario's transit authority) headquarters on Bay Street. She spoke at the Toronto Regional Board of Trade, at an event sponsored by global, mostly foreign, multinational corporations.
The significance of Wynne's preference for a private venue sponsored by an elite group of powerful multinationals went unremarked by mainstream media. Nor did they mention that for the second year in a row,...
Thank you for standing with us against solitary
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 17:44
- Written by editor
[ACTIVlist] ACTIVlist Update - January 27, 2015
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- Published on Monday, 16 March 2015 13:46
- Written by editor
This daily ACTIVlist e-mail is a compilation of blog posts, media releases and action alerts from the Council of Canadians. For more information about our campaigns, how to get involved, and how to become a member, go to www.canadians.org. Please forward this e-mail and encourage others to join our list! Thank you for your interest and support.
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London chapter supports 'Door to Door' postal delivery campaign The Council of Canadians London chapter supports the Londoners for Door to Door postal delivery campaign.
Council of Canadians endorses protest against TPP in NYC
Common Dreams reports,...A monster dies and the world mourns
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 12:44
- Written by editor
BY J. BAGLOW | JANUARY 23, 2015
A foul despot has just passed on, and the Western world is singing his praises. Speak no ill of the dead? There are always exceptions to that rule. And King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, one might have thought, should be a glaringly obvious one.
We may never again have such an opportunity to observe the West's paramount value -- hypocrisy -- showcased in glitter, tinsel and neon quite so spectacularly. In the U.K. the government has ordered that all flags be lowered to half-mast. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sucks hard enough to implode. Here at home, our Prime Minister sings Abdullah's praises: "the monarch also undertook a range of important economic, social, education, health, and infrastructure initiatives in his country." Just another Economic Action Plan, with a few severed limbs and rolling heads. What's not to like?
Under this bloated tyrant, women have been arrested for the crime of driving. A blogger has been sentenced to 10 years and 1,000 lashes for cautiously endorsing mildly liberal values. But these are, comparatively speaking, mere peccadilloes, a few national idiosyncrasies.
During Abdullah's kingship, assisted by countless parasitic family princelings and a tame and compliant judiciary, a reign of terror has prevailed. There have been mass arrests of dissidents since the Arab Spring. Atheists have been declared "terrorists," emptying that label further of any meaning. Amputations are routine. Surgical paralysis has been ordered in one egregious case. And there are enough beheadings to sate the most seasoned ISIS psychopath. In Saudi Arabia, you can be publicly decapitated for such "crimes" as sorcery, false prophecy and blasphemy. Between 2007-2010, there were 345 of them. And the numbers have surged in recent years.
Hypocrisy abounds on the Right side of the aisle, too -- now they're saying pretty much what this post is saying, but as a stick to beat Obama with. They would like us to forget this sort of thing:
Recall, also, that 15 of the 9/11 flyboys were Saudi, but somehow Bush got away with continued support for the Saudi regime, and the double-thinking Right commentators were silent.
CETA could unravel with decisive Syriza win in Greece
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 12:44
- Written by editor
The people of Greece have elected a Syriza government. Exit polls show that the party has won between 146 and 158 seats in the 300-member Hellenic parliament (the final election results will be available by tomorrow morning). While Syriza (the Coalition of the Radical Left) has been mostly in the news because of its vow to cancel the brutal austerity measures imposed by the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, it has also stated that if elected it would not ratify the Canada-European Union "free trade" agreement.
In December 2013, the BBC reported, "The leftist Syriza bloc, the main opposition group, rejects the EU-Canada deal. 'A SYRIZA-led government will veto the agreement,' says Thanassis Petrakos, a SYRIZA MP." And in October 2014, the Syriza delegation at the European Parliament issued a media release that stated, "The Syriza Delegation categorically opposes the ratification of these agreements [CETA and the EU-United States Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] and calls the Greek population to participate in the pan-European mobilisation against [them]..."
In an open letter to Greek voters shared last week, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow wrote, "Many Canadians will be watching to see the outcome of the election on January 25. We have seen the polls that suggest Syriza will defeat the New Democracy government. This gives us hope given our opposition to the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). ...We agree [with Syriza] that both deals [CETA and TTIP] need to be stopped. That's because even if TTIP were to be stopped, Canadian subsidiaries of US-headquartered transnational corporations would still be able to use [the investor-state provision in] CETA to sue your country." Her letter in Greek can be read here.
Read more: CETA could unravel with decisive Syriza win in Greece
Harper campaign speech fact check: 6 untruths he will tell again... and again
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 12:22
- Written by editor
This one might interest your members. Please feel free to share...
http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/6-deceptive-stories-stephen-harper-will-tell-you-during-2015-election
Thanks,Chris
TORTURE IF YOU MUST, BUT DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CALL THE NEW YORK TIMES
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 10:44
- Written by editor
BY DAN FROOMKIN
@froomkinMonday’s guilty verdict in the trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling on espionage charges — for talking to a newspaper reporter — is the latest milepost on the dark and dismal path Barack Obama has traveled since his inaugural promises to usher in a “new era of openness.”
Far from rejecting the authoritarian bent of his presidential predecessor, Obama has simply adjusted it, adding his own personal touches, most notably an enthusiasm for criminally prosecuting the kinds of leaks that are essential to a free press.
The Sterling case – especially in light of Obama’s complicity in the cover-up of torture during the Bush administration – sends a clear message to people in government service: You won’t get in trouble as long as you do what you’re told (even torture people). But if you talk to a reporter and tell him something we want kept secret, we will spare no effort to destroy you.
There’s really no sign any more of the former community organizer who joyously declared on his first full day in office that “there’s been too much secrecy in this city… Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but those who seek to make it known.”
Read more: TORTURE IF YOU MUST, BUT DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CALL THE NEW YORK TIMES
Davos 2015: The world needs a new business model - ITUC OnLine
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 10:22
- Written by editor
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION
ITUC OnLine 003/200115 Davos 2015: The world needs a new business model Brussels, 20 January 2015 (ITUC OnLine): The global economic system isn't working for six billion people, warned labour leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Working people and their families need a new business model to stop the disintegration of democracies and economies. The world needs investment and jobs, said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. Mass unemployment, mistrust in institutions, rising inequality and extremism are global risks for working people, employers and leaders. The ITUC Global Poll of 14 countries found: - Only one out of two people believe the next generation will find a decent job; - 78 percent of people believe the economic system favours the wealthy rather than being fair to most people; - 62 percent of the world's people want corporate power to be tamed.
Read more: Davos 2015: The world needs a new business model - ITUC OnLine
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