Alternative News

Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.

All of Us Began with Marta Harnecker

Details: Published on Friday, 26 June 2020 01:44; Written by editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2133 ... June 26, 2020
______________________________________________

All of Us Began with Marta Harnecker

Miguel Enrique Stédile

During an interview, then-Bolivia Vice-President Álvaro García Linera and Spanish state parliamentarian Pablo Iglesias were exchanging ideas on classic texts and their own initiation into politics when the Spanish activist proclaimed: “All of us began with Marta Harnecker.” This statement is not only true for today’s young leftists but for thousands of people who have defended Marxism and socialism in the past four decades.

It is no exaggeration to affirm that Marta Harnecker (1937–2019) was arguably the most important disseminator of Marx and Lenin’s ideas among successive waves of activists in Latin America, starting with the publication of her “Booklets for Popular Education” in the 1970s and followed shortly after by The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism. At the same time, her own political and intellectual trajectory is illustrative of the course of the Latin American left in the second half of the 20th century.

Continue reading

Share on Facebook

Follow us onr0

Forward to a friend: Read more: All of Us Began with Marta Harnecker

Message to StandardBank delivered successfully.

Details: Published on Thursday, 25 June 2020 23:52; Written by editor

PAOV,

Yesterday we delivered your message along with 23 000 others showing our commitment to a fossil-free Africa and calling on Standard Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to not finance the EACOP project.

At a time when science is telling us that the world cannot absorb any new fossil fuel developments if we are to tackle the climate crisis, Standard Bank is set to be willing to finance such climate destructive projects.

Standard Bank needs to be on the right side of history and publicly commit to not finance this potentially disastrous pipeline. They should be focused on clean energy projects which will positively transform East Africa’s economies for future generations.

You will be hearing more from us about what the plans moving forward look like as we build in more ambition. For now, people across Africa, including communities in Uganda fighting the EACOP project, are organising virtual actions to expose the fossil fuel and finance industry’s role in accelerating the climate crisis. Please RSVP to join these actions.

Thanks for being part of this,

Landry

350.org is building a global climate movement. You can connect...

How you built a movement for a Just Recovery

Details: Published on Thursday, 25 June 2020 12:10; Written by editor

Paov,

This Tuesday, we joined our friends from Climate Action Network Canada, Sierra Club BC, and Leadnow to hold an e-rally where thousands of people delivered over 105,000 petition signatures to federal party leaders, MPs, and cabinet ministers demanding a Just Recovery. We also heard from movement leaders who are organizing tirelessly for Indigenous rights and support systems for migrants.

If you missed the rally, you can watch the recording and petition delivery here.

The rally was powerful, and it was just the first step. We need to keep building momentum to ensure elected officials continue to put people first in their recovery plans from COVID-19. Keep the conversation for a Just Recovery going through the summer by holding a teach-in in your community. Check out our resources to help you get started.

Together, we’ve all done so much in these last few months. Here is a look back at the incredible people-powered organizing that has led to this moment:

When COVID-19 hit communities across Canada, people across the country came together to organize mutual aid efforts and demand that no one was left behind in the government’s response. People...

Salt marshes: a secret weapon against rising seas

Details: Published on Thursday, 25 June 2020 12:00; Written by editor

Salt marshes: a secret weapon against rising seas r1 ...

Abolish RCMP

Details: Published on Thursday, 25 June 2020 10:44; Written by editor

Already this year, the RCMP killed Rodney Levi, beat Chief Allan Adam, and violently removed Wet'suwet'en people from their own land.
These violent actions come on the back of a social awakening to police violence perpetrated against the Black community and following numerous instances of brutality perpetuated by municipal police forces on Indigenous peoples.
It’s time to end our reliance on the RCMP -- a violent organization that was created to terrorize Indigenous people like me.

Sign the petition

The recent string of violence and killings of Indigenous women, youth, men and leaders at the hands of RCMP officers highlights the need to defund with a mind to abolishing the RCMP. This call mirrors those calls of the Black Lives Matter movement to defund and abolish policing institutions within the US and Canada, and is supported by localized calls by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities to defund and abolish Canadian municipal police forces.

My name...

Theres still time

Details: Published on Thursday, 25 June 2020 06:06; Written by editor

TAKE ACTION

Miley Cyrus to PM Trudeau — Support the Global Fight Against COVID-19

...

Meng, Huawei and Canadian Law: Soap, Rinse and Dry-Laundered

Details: Published on Thursday, 25 June 2020 03:30; Written by editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2132 ... June 25, 2020
______________________________________________

Meng, Huawei and Canadian Law: Soap, Rinse and Dry-Laundered

Harry Glasbeek

Prologue

One of the graver risks for big-time criminals is that investigators will be able to identify them and their deeds by ‘following the money’. The criminals have to hide the proceeds of their crimes. This is done by depositing their monies into legitimate finance houses and businesses. It often requires some fancy book-keeping tricks and intricate transactions. This is called layering by the afficionados of this dark art. Once it is done, the criminals can draw on the accounts created and mix the ill-gotten gains with legally garnered capital. The term for this is ‘integration’ and it makes the investigators’ tasks much harder. The rotten fruit of crime will have been laundered.

In 2012, HSBC, a global bank, whose origins are connected to Hong Kong and Shanghai and whose headquarters are now in London, admitted that it had participated in funneling what it acknowledged to have been suspect money, including some used to breach sanctions imposed on US enemies. It had...

Walmart's All Lives Matter T-Shirts

Details: Published on Wednesday, 24 June 2020 15:52; Written by editor

Breaking: Walmart is selling "All Lives Matter" merchandise on its online store.

The billion dollar corporation claims to support Black Lives Matter but is profiting off a slogan used by racists.

Can you add your voice and call on Walmart to stop selling 'All Lives Matter' products now?

Message Walmart

"Black Lives Matter" has been the key rallying call in the United States and Canada after the movement that rose up to protest the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet.

But anti-black and racist groups have responded with their own slogan: ‘All Lives Matter’. It may sound harmless at first glance but this slogan has become their rallying cry: a way to delegitimize the Black Lives Matter movement -- threatening and intimidating those on the side of racial justice.

A, we just discovered that Walmart is selling All Lives Matter merchandise on its Canadian online store.

This multi-billion dollar corporation is helping promote a dangerous counter-movement...

#StopEACOP: We're delivering your message to StandardBank tomorrow

Details: Published on Wednesday, 24 June 2020 02:02; Written by editor

Friend,

Thank you for adding your voice to call on StandardBank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to not finance the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline!

Tomorrow, we will hand-deliver your signature along with over 23,000 others to the Standard Bank head office in Rosebank, Johannesburg.

Will you help us get as many signatures as possible before then?

Oil exploration and development in the region has already been associated with human rights abuses and illegal resettlement. Concerns have been raised on the impact of oil extraction on wildlife and natural habitats in the Murchison Falls National Park, Lake Albert fisheries and the disastrous consequences of a potential oil spill in Lake Victoria, which would affect over 30 million people (in approximately 8 countries) that rely on the two lakes for drinking water and food production.

As we face an unknown future, one thing is clear: we simply cannot go back to business as usual.

We must be bold in rebuilding our planet — a healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable home for us all. So thank you...

The Coronavirus and the Class Character of German Politics

Details: Published on Wednesday, 24 June 2020 00:26; Written by editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2131 ... June 24, 2020
______________________________________________

The Coronavirus and the Class Character of German Politics

Thomas Sablowski

The Pope, former UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, Madonna and many others are in agreement: we’re all in the same boat with regard to the ‘Corona crisis’. But as the saying goes, some are rowing while others steer the boat. This article looks at German policies during the crisis from the perspective of how they affect different classes.

On 27 February 2020, Germany’s government established a crisis-management committee and started to take measures to contain the pandemic. Shortly thereafter, a series of economic and fiscal policies followed, designed to offset the economic effects caused by the restrictions placed on gainful employment. The latter are analyzed here as a mere snapshot, since policies during this crisis are constantly evolving and rest upon the always shifting power relations between social classes and class fractions. The crisis policies are a momentum as well as a result of class struggle.

I concentrate on an analysis of the measures decided upon by the German government and the...

Beekeepers in court

Details: Published on Tuesday, 23 June 2020 10:02; Written by editor

Hi A, I just wanted to make sure you saw this: Bayer is trying to squash the Europe-wide ban on bee-killing pesticides.

Beekeepers are fighting back in court, but they have over 50,000 Euros in unpaid legal bills. They're exhausted and desperately need your help.

Can you chip in to save the bees from Bayer?

If you’ve saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately:

Donate CA$95 now Donate another amount

Thanks for all that you do,
Eoin and the team at SumOfUs

Here’s the original email with more information:

Beekeepers are on the verge of a crucial court victory over Bayer and its bee-killing pesticides.

But Bayer's merciless legal assault has exhausted the bee defenders' resources -- and they won't be able to finish this fight without you.

Can you chip in to defeat Bayer and defend our pesticide ban?

If you’ve saved your payment...

Read more: Beekeepers in court

Momentum for a Just Recovery is building

Details: Published on Tuesday, 23 June 2020 05:04; Written by editor

Friends,

COVID-19 is one of the biggest global crises of the century and has exposed an economic system unable to meet the needs of people and the planet. Millions of people across the country continue to grapple with job losses and, after years of austerity, our healthcare and social services are buckling under the pressure.

We know we can’t go back to business as usual of climate inaction and rising inequality. That's why thousands of people across the country will gather online today for a mass rally to build momentum for a Just Recovery.

We will call on federal decision makers, including MPs, cabinet ministers, and party leaders who are expected to join, to put people first in their post-pandemic response plan. Here are all the details one last time:

WHAT: Just Recovery for All Mass Online Rally
WHEN: Tuesday, June 23rd 12pm PT / 1pm MT / 2pm CT / 3pm ET / 4pm AT
WHERE: Online via Zoom
RSVP to save your seat >>

The movement to build back better after the pandemic is growing. Last week, over 500 people submitted a brief to the federal...

Agenda for the Global South After COVID-19

Details: Published on Tuesday, 23 June 2020 02:54; Written by editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2130 ... June 23, 2020
______________________________________________

Agenda for the Global South After COVID-19

Vijay Prashad

In 1974, the United Nations General Assembly passed a New International Economic Order (NIEO), which was driven by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The resolution laid out a clear plan for the structural transformation of the world system, which was in the throes of a crisis at the time. However, the NIEO was set aside and the world order was shaped in a neoliberal direction; this neoliberal orientation furthered the crisis and brought us to this current cul-de-sac of human possibilities.

Our team at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research has developed a ten-point agenda for a post-COVID-19 world. Last week, I presented this agenda at the High-Level Conference on the Post-Pandemic Economy, organized by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). We are certainly in need of a New International Economic Order.

1. Tackle the global pandemic

Our priority is to tackle the global pandemic. To this end, enhancing and pivoting public-sector production toward masks, protective equipment, ventilators, field hospitals, and...

Join us on June 27 for a World-Changing Event

Details: Published on Monday, 22 June 2020 09:04; Written by editor

Watch

Join Us for an Unforgettable Event This Weekend!

...

The Politics of the Mask

Details: Published on Monday, 22 June 2020 02:40; Written by editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2129 ... June 22, 2020
_____________________________________________

The Politics of the Mask

AK Thompson and Clare O'Connor

The years since Donald Trump’s election have been marked by a resurgence of violent street-level political confrontations. Fascists and their opponents have squared off in numerous cities, while recent protests against racist police violence have grown into a powerful movement. Cities across the country are now in open rebellion.

This new political instability coincides with the tenth anniversary of the publication of critical theorist AK Thompson’s Black Bloc, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent (2010), which advanced a provocative thesis regarding the intimate bond between political violence and the white middle class. In Thompson’s account, the black bloc -- a demonstration tactic in which masks and sartorial uniformity are used to facilitate participation in confrontational skirmishes -- was both seductive and disquieting to white middle-class audiences because it forced them to confront the limits of their own political efficacy. Today, as activists confront the question of violence once again -- and COVID-19 universally necessitates the wearing of masks in public -- the...

Beekeepers in court

Details: Published on Monday, 22 June 2020 01:42; Written by editor

Beekeepers are on the verge of a crucial court victory over Bayer and its bee-killing pesticides.

But Bayer's merciless legal assault has exhausted the bee defenders' resources -- and they won't be able to finish this fight without you.

Can you chip in to defeat Bayer and defend our pesticide ban?

If you’ve saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately:

Donate CA$95 now Donate another amount

A courageous group of beekeepers is fighting a court battle to protect their bees from Bayer's bee-killing pesticides. And they badly need your help right now, A.

In just a few weeks the court will make a decision on the Europe-wide ban of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Bayer's lawyers have been trying to bury the beekeepers with paperwork. And the beekeepers are exhausted. After months of legal bills, our brave beekeepers don't have the funds they need to continue -- and the added...

COVID-19: A View from the Great Depression of the 1930s

Details: Published on Sunday, 21 June 2020 03:16; Written by editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2128 ... June 21, 2020
_____________________________________________

COVID-19: A View from the Great Depression of the 1930s

Eric Strikwerda and Ingo Schmidt

The Great Depression. It rests in our collective consciousness as a time when unemployment was rampant, when soup kitchen and bread lines were long, when misery was widespread, when dust was everywhere.

In our imaginations, the Depression had a light at the end of its dark tunnel, too. In that story, the onset of the Second World War single-handedly pulled the world out of its economically troubled times, forging along the way nothing less than a gritty demographic cohort that would come to be called the Greatest Generation.

Like most stories, this one has elements of truth to it. But nestled deep within the narrative are the more mundane public policy stories that actually pulled the world out of depression. And, looking deeper still, one can find the stories of the dramatic and necessary shifts in basic thinking about how economies, states and societies worked (and didn’t work).

In short, the Great Depression forced many to question,...

We spoke up. Now let's show up.

Details: Published on Saturday, 20 June 2020 08:06; Written by editor

Friends,

Right now, the federal government is looking for ways to rebuild the economy. And even though right-wing interests continue to push for mass-austerity and bailouts, thousands of people across the country are raising a voice in support of a Just Recovery.

We have to keep the pressure up. We have to make sure that action on wealth inequality, systemic racism, and climate change is at the center of their post-pandemic recovery plan.

That's why, on Tuesday, June 23rd, at 12pm PT / 1pm MT / 2pm CT/ 3pm ET/ 4pm AT, thousands of people across the country will gather for a mass digital rally. We will bring our demands to Members of Parliament from across party lines, calling on them to build power for a Just Recovery that puts people over corporations. RSVP here to save your seat.

The movement to build back better after the pandemic is gaining momentum. In just a week, over 500 people, from across the country, submitted briefs to the federal government’s online consultation on post-pandemic recovery. Together, hundreds of us called for a Just Recovery...

TMX spills 190,000 litres of oil

Details: Published on Friday, 19 June 2020 22:20; Written by editor

Trans Mountain pipeline just leaked 190,000 litres of tar sands oil near sacred burial grounds in BC.

The insurance to the pipeline is expiring soon. Call on insurers to not renew the insurance on climate destroying project.

Sign the petition

Last weekend, Trans Mountain pipeline leaked 190,000 litres of tar sands oil.

The spill happened near the sacred burial grounds of the Sumas First Nation, marking the 4th time the pipeline has spilled on the nation's land.

And if the plan to build a massive new pipeline goes ahead, there could be even bigger spills in the future.

But we could stop this climate destroying pipeline by making sure it can’t get insurance. That’s why we are launching our campaign to call on Liberty Mutual, Chubb, AIG and other companies to not renew its insurance on Trans Mountain pipeline in August.

Call on Liberty Mutual, Chubb and AIG to stop fueling climate chaos and insuring human rights abuses.

If this pipeline...

How Global Citizen Helped Secure the World Bank's Biggest WASH Commitment Yet

Details: Published on Friday, 19 June 2020 04:42; Written by editor

READ

How Global Citizen Helped Secure the World Bank's Biggest WASH Commitment Yet

...

Alternative News