Alternative News
Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.
From 350 Japan to your city
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- Published on Sunday, 27 December 2020 13:42
- Written by editor
PAOV,
You probably haven't seen my name in your inbox before, that's because I work as the team lead for 350 here in Japan.
I'm reaching out to you today to first say thank you. Since I started at 350, I have seen our movement blossom in every corner of the world, and I am continuously inspired by the campaigns my teammates are spearheading in Canada.
PAOV, this has been a huge year for us here on the Japan team, so I wanted to share a few highlights about one of our biggest campaigns:
- First, we identified three of Japan's major banks as the top three lenders to coal developers worldwide.
- Then, we mobilized into action. We called on Japan’s three megabanks — Mitsubishi (MUFG), Sumitomo (SMBC), and Mizuho — to completely phase out financing for coal-fired power and establish a fossil fuel phase out strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement.
- Now, more than 109 groups from all over the world have signed the petition. Thanks to our pressure, Mitsubishi — the largest banking institution in Japan — just announced their new goal of erasing $3.58 billion loan balances for coal-fired power projects by 2040.
The truth is that campaign...
We made this for you!
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- Published on Sunday, 27 December 2020 07:18
- Written by editor
Challenges Ahead: The US Left and Labour After Trump
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- Published on Sunday, 27 December 2020 05:06
- Written by editor
Challenges Ahead: The US Left and Labour After Trump
With the results of the presidential and congressional elections in the US, a series of questions have come to the fore for the North American left. How far – or how little – will Biden overturn the policies of Trump? What is the state of the socialist left, particularly the various groupings within and around the Democratic Socialists of America? What are the challenges and openings for building a base of socialists in the working class, and engaging electorally? Is there finally a new basis for the US labour movement to rebuild?
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Nicole Aschoff is on the editorial board at Jacobin. She is the author of The Smartphone Society: Technology, Power, and Resistance in the New Gilded Age and The New...
Read more: Challenges Ahead: The US Left and Labour After Trump
Our Holiday Gift of Art & Music: Enjoy!
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- Published on Saturday, 26 December 2020 09:22
- Written by editor
Leo Panitch and the Socialist Project
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- Published on Saturday, 26 December 2020 04:18
- Written by editor
Leo Panitch and the Socialist Project
Stephen Maher
The death of Leo Panitch has made the world a darker place. His writings have carried us through some of the most difficult periods in the history of the socialist left, as wave after wave of the neoliberal onslaught broke workers’ organizations, serving up one defeat after the next. Leo’s work sustained so many of us during these years, pushing us on and pointing the way through the storm.
This was not because he sowed illusions about just how bad things have been. Rather it was because, even as other erstwhile New Leftists lamented the “God That Failed,” he devoted himself to...
This one is for you, A
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- Published on Friday, 25 December 2020 03:22
- Written by editor
Dear A,
As the year is drawing to a close, we wanted to send you a special message to say thank you for how you showed up to fight corporate power in 2020.
If 2020 showed us anything, it’s that we are nothing without our community, A.
And together, we’ve accomplished so much this year: you’ve helped save orangutans and clean up the dirty palm oil industry, you’re forcing tech corporations to combat fake news on their platforms; and you made great strides to save our bees from bee-killing pesticides. I could go on.
You and the millions of other SumOfUs members around the world are truly the backbone of this organisation. It is you who made it all happen.
From all of us at SumOfUs, this is for you:
We wish you happy holidays and a good start to the New Year,
Thanks for all that you do,
Emma and the team at SumOfUs
PS. You can watch and share the video on Facebook too, click here.
More information:
How we're funded, SumOfUs
SumOfUs is a community of people from around the world committed to...
Local Elections in Brazil: The Return of the Living Dead
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- Published on Thursday, 24 December 2020 01:26
- Written by editor
Local Elections in Brazil: The Return of the Living Dead
Jörg Nowak
Brazil held local elections this past November. These always take place midway through the legislative terms of the presidency and the national parliament, and hence, serve as an important temperature check on the general political mood. Usually, the party of the sitting president who was elected two years earlier receives a boost. Yet, since president Jair Bolsonaro is not a member of a political party, things are slightly more complicated this time.
Three issues stand out regarding the results. First, the old and new centre-right parties were the most successful. Second, candidates close to Bolsonaro had only limited...
Read more: Local Elections in Brazil: The Return of the Living Dead
Fighting to end the Safe Third Country Agreement
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- Published on Wednesday, 23 December 2020 14:04
- Written by editor
Hi Friend,
When someone’s rights are violated, they deserve justice.
Right now, in the midst of a global pandemic, the federal government is failing to uphold the rights of refugees applying for asylum.
The government is in court, shamefully trying to keep the Safe Third Country Agreement in place. This agreement allows them to turn away and detain asylum seekers making refugee claims at border crossings between the U.S. and Canada.
This is unjust. This agreement must be ended.
When governments disregard fundamental human rights, we need to stand up to hold them accountable.
One of the ways the BCCLA holds the government to account is through legal interventions. The BCCLA is applying for leave to intervene in a case that challenges the Safe Third Country Agreement.
We are determined to argue against the Safe Third Country Agreement
in court. We’ll fight hard to end the Safe Third Country Agreement and
protect the rights of refugees.
We’re a small
organization, but we...
Line 3 pipeline
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- Published on Wednesday, 23 December 2020 08:32
- Written by editor
r33
Hi there,
I just got off the phone with renowned environmental activist Winona La Duke. Canadian company Enbridge has begun construction of the dirty Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline stretching from Alberta to Wisconsin – and Winona and her allies have asked for our help to stop it.
Construction may be underway, but opposition is stronger than ever too. Last week, 22 water protectors were arrested for resisting construction.
Joe Biden has the power to review the permits granted by Trump and can still halt construction on this destructive pipeline. But he won’t do it without an unprecedented wave of public pressure.
SIGN NOWIf constructed, this pipeline would carry 760,000 barrels of tar sands oil from Canada every, single, day – using a three-foot-wide pipe as big as Keystone XL. This would be devastating to our climate, threaten the Mississippi...
Amazon Rescue Plan
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- Published on Wednesday, 23 December 2020 03:50
- Written by editor
A, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this.
It’s not even been 24 hours since I sent the email below -- but already, hundreds of people have signed up to fund our Amazon Rescue Plan. It’s just incredible to see -- and so important.
Experts don’t mince their words: if we don’t act now, the Amazon rainforest will become a burnt-out savannah.
With your help, our Amazon Rescue Plan plan will go straight to tackling the root cause of what’s killing this life-giving forest: the ranching, logging, and mining industries.
A, we’re so close to getting the supporters we need to pull this off. Can you make a small monthly donation to fund our Amazon Rescue Plan?
Leo Panitchs Many Lessons on Living Under American Empire
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- Published on Wednesday, 23 December 2020 01:34
- Written by editor
Leo Panitch’s Many Lessons on Living Under American Empire
Alex Colás
Leo Panitch’s untimely death last weekend is a tragic loss for the international left. His intellectual and political contributions toward rebuilding working class movements in such diverse settings as North America, the UK and Greece were consistently lucid, incisive and trenchant – that is, indispensable. They reflect an internationalist commitment to concrete struggles for democratic socialism from a strategic standpoint, always mindful of capital’s pervasive power across the planet, particularly after the demise of the Soviet bloc.
Others will write about Leo’s life-long involvement with the UK Labour Party, both as an active participant and academic observer of the...
Read more: Leo Panitchs Many Lessons on Living Under American Empire
UPDATE: Get your donation doubled!
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- Published on Tuesday, 22 December 2020 08:04
- Written by editor
Ethiopia Entering a Dangerous Phase
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- Published on Tuesday, 22 December 2020 05:30
- Written by editor
Ethiopia Entering a Dangerous Phase
Paulos Tesfagiorgis is interviewed by Pierre Beaudet
During the liberation war from the mid-seventies to the early 1990s, Paulos Tesfagiorgis was head of the Eritrean Relief Agency (ERA), the central organism that organized the provision of goods in the liberated areas of Eritrea and supported the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) shadow state they had set up throughout the country until their victory in 1991. As a senior member of the EPLF, Tesfagiorgis was involved, along with Isaias Afwerki, in the core leadership until the end of the 1990s, when serious cracks occurred within the government and the party, which led to the imprisonment and...
Taking action against a power grab
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- Published on Monday, 21 December 2020 14:56
- Written by editor
Hi Friend,
It has been a relentless year. Governments, both provincial and
federal, have taken measures to contain the spread of a deadly virus.
The BCCLA supports reasonable health measures implemented to contain
Covid-19.
However, at the same time, governments are
taking actions that violate people’s rights, dignity and liberty.
For example, Alberta’s provincial government passed Bill 10, a dangerous law that allows cabinet ministers to unilaterally write new laws without any oversight from the Legislative Assembly or the public.
This is not right. This law is unjust, and will negatively impact marginalized people.
Will you join us in our fight for a more just world? We’re
trying to raise $30,000 to support 3 interventions next year. Please
make a donation today.
Marginalized
and oppressed people have a right to fully participate in a democratic
process. Open parliamentary processes that can be scrutinized
by media and the public are a crucial measure against oppression. Bill
10 removes that measure. We...
Can you take a moment to read and share our new blog post?
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- Published on Monday, 21 December 2020 06:14
- Written by editor
Paov,
I’m about to take my holiday break. I hope you’re able to take some time to rest over the holidays too.
This has been a tough year, both on a personal level and in terms of the devastating global impacts of climate change and the pandemic. But, as I look back on 2020, I’m also filled with a lot of hope. Seeing how the world mobilized to fight COVID-19 gave us a glimpse of what might be possible if our elected officials treated the climate emergency just as seriously. In 2021, I’ll continue doing my part in the fight for a made-in-Canada Green New Deal with more determination than ever.
Before I sign off for the break, I wanted to share a blog post I wrote about the biggest lessons 2020 taught us about fighting the climate emergency.
I know you’re just as worried as I am about the climate crisis, so I bet you’ve already had some of the same reflections I list in the blog post. For example, seeing how Canadian media outlets covered the pandemic reminded us that journalists know how to report on a crisis. They...
Read more: Can you take a moment to read and share our new blog post?
Amazon Rescue Plan
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- Published on Monday, 21 December 2020 03:44
- Written by editor
Amazon fires have doubled this year.
We can't stand by while the world's largest rainforest burns to the ground.
Will you make a small monthly donation to fund our Amazon Rescue Plan?
Donate CA$1 monthlyDonate CA$3 monthlyDonate CA$7 monthlyDonate another amount
No thanks, but I'll make a one-time...
Empire, Socialism and November /w Leo Panitch
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- Published on Sunday, 20 December 2020 04:00
- Written by editor
Sunday LIVE! Ecosocialist Solstice Zoom Party & Artists Showcase
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- Published on Saturday, 19 December 2020 13:08
- Written by editor
Read more: Sunday LIVE! Ecosocialist Solstice Zoom Party & Artists Showcase
Who is financing the trade of Amazon crude oil?
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- Published on Saturday, 19 December 2020 06:20
- Written by editor
r33
Hi friend,
Back in August, our team released a bombshell report calling out major European banks for funding the destruction of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters by financing crude oil exports. The report made a huge splash around the world – with over 350 media outlets covering it. Since then, alongside Indigenous leaders, we’ve actively been engaging in negotiations with the top six banks asking them to set permanent commitments to stop trade financing Amazon crude oil. As some of these banks inch closer to committing, others are lagging behind.
With additional oil expansions planned in 2021, it’s crucial to keep the pressure up right now and secure commitments from banks.
Over 35,000 Stand.earth members are calling on banks to stop endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who live in the Amazon Sacred Headwaters by financing oil expansion, but your name is missing – for now.
More Articles...
- A Green New Deal for Public Transport
- Updates & year-end appeal
- Council This Week
- The Farmers Fight Is Our fight!
- Canada, the U.S. and Mexico walk into a bar
- We're fighting for the rights of young people in Alberta
- Get your donation doubled!
- I hope you'll take a moment to read my note to you and give your first $3.50 contribution, or perhaps a little more
- Amazon Workers Are Organizing a Global Struggle
- How do we Fix Long-Term Care?
