Northern Gateway pipeline will hurt consumers and harm Canada's already weakened manufacturing sector
by CNW
CEO and labour leader agree: Canada should upgrade bitumen rather than send value-added jobs to China
and U.S.
Building a pipeline to send millions of
barrels of raw bitumen from Alberta's oil sands to refineries in China
will make some oil companies richer - but those riches will come at the
expense of consumers and non-energy businesses across Canada.
That's the main conclusion of a detailed report prepared by Robyn Allan,
an economist and prominent businesswoman who was once named one of
Canada's top 200 CEOs.
The report was filed this week as evidence to the federal panel
currently considering Enbridge Inc.'s application to build the
controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.
[A copy of Allan's report, entitled "An Economic Assessment of Northern
Gateway" can be found here. A copy of the AFL's brief on the same subject can be found here. Allan's bio can be seen here.]
Occupy the Super Bowl: Indiana’s New Anti-Union Law Sparks Protest at Sport’s Biggest Spectacle
by Democracy Now!
Occupy protesters in Indianapolis are gearing up to use the media spotlight on Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI
to rally for union rights outside the statehouse. Earlier this week,
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a so-called "right to work" measure
into law that critics say will result in lower wages and diminished
collective bargaining rights.
Indiana workers have received the backing
of the National Football League Players Association, which has called
"right to work" "a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’
rights." We’re joined from Indiana by Tithi Bhattacharya, an associate
professor of South Asian History at Purdue University and a protester
who is taking part in Occupy the Super Bowl. "It is absolutely shameful
that the legislature passed a law that condemns unions and is now using
the city to showcase Indianapolis while ordinary people in Indiana are
completely opposed to this law," Bhattacharya says.
Guest Tithi Bhattacharya,
Associate Professor of South Asian History at Purdue University. She
is a leading member of Occupy Purdue and has written about Occupy the
Super Bowl.
Dear Mayor Quan; I would like to thank both you and the many police officers you
summoned from the greater Oakland metro area for their excellent work
this difficult weekend.
In particular, the calming, measured presence displayed by riot
police while using door-to-door urban warfare techniques with guns drawn
to stalk me and dozens of other terrified kids at the local YMCA, while
innocent civilian gym members looked on, is to be commended.
It is a
testament to the bravery of the OPD that they were somehow able to
overcome the difficult on-the-ground battlefield conditions created by
the necessary deployment of these paramilitary units, with the terror
and the screaming and the fleeing and whatnot, and still root out 24
cowering occupiers to immediately slap with felony charges in addition
to four days of torture at the Santa Rita jail.
Armed riot cops hunt Occupy with weapons drawn at the YMCA while members work out.
On Monday, I was honored to receive the Leibowitz Prize for “life’s work”, the prize established by the Yesh Gvul soldiers' peace organization. I was unable to prepare a speech, so I spoke off the cuff and have to reconstruct my remarks from memory. (The laudation speech by the Nobel Prize laureate, Prof Ada Yonat, was far too laudatory for me to distribute.)
First, I wish to thank Yesh Gvul for establishing this prize. Then I would like to thank the distinguished jury, who were so gracious as to award the prize to me and to Hagit Ofran, the granddaughter of Prof. Leibowitz, whose work in monitoring the settlements I have admired for years. And then I want to thank all of you for coming to this ceremony.
Yet at this moment I think of the one who is not here, and whose absence is so unjust: my wife, Rachel. She was a full partner in all I did during the last 58 years, and should have been awarded half the prize – at the very least. She would have been delighted to be here.
When I entered this building, I was greeted by a stormy right-wing demonstration. I was grievously offended to be told that it was not directed against me, but against my friend Muhammad Bakri, the Arab actor who so angered the fascists with his film “Jenin, Jenin”. At this moment he is playing in Frederico Garcia Lorca's “The House of Bernarda Alba” next door. Probably he deserves this demonstration, but nevertheless I still feel deeply insulted.
The Government Employees Union is BC's largest. We discuss the roles of unions, fair tax policy, and the real cause of the 'deficits' we have.
We talk about all working people being able to make a decent living, and building a fairer and more equitable society for all of us. We discuss the role of the corporations, their politicians, and their media. And how to create a fairer and more democratic society.
And even more ... As a member of the GEU, I was happy with my union's positions on the issues we talked about here. Now we just have to make it happen.
Global Research Editor's Note - We bring to the attention of our readers the Observers' Mission Report of the League of Arab States to Syria.
The report acknowledges the existence of "an armed entity"
involved in the killings of civilians and police as well as the conduct
of terrorist acts, which in turn have contributed to triggering actions
by government forces.
The Report refers to "armed opposition
groups" as well as to the "Free Syrian Army", both of which, according
to the AL Mission, are involved in the deliberate killing of innocent
civilians:
"In some zones, this armed entity reacted
by attacking Syrian security forces and citizens, causing the Government
to respond with further violence. In the end, innocent citizens pay the price for those actions with life and limb.
"In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against Government forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries. Examples of those acts include the
bombing of a civilian bus, killing eight persons and injuring others,
including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel
oil. In another incident in Homs, a police bus was blown up, killing
two police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also
bombed. "
"Such incidents include the bombing of
buildings, trains carrying fuel, vehicles carrying diesel oil and
explosions targeting the police, members of the media and fuel
pipelines. Some of those attacks have been carried out by the Free
Syrian Army and some by other armed opposition groups."
Iran seems to many observers to be next in line for the Iraqi freedom
treatment, the latest in a long line of “enemy” nations menaced by overt
and covert military threats by the United States and its allies.
As the psyops operations and media propaganda
intensifies, you might think war is imminent and that Iran is doing what
countries under threat do in these circumstances, such as mobilizing
their people and preparing for a bombing onslaught.
Think
again. While I have been told that military targets have been or are
being moved around, the atmosphere in Tehran is relaxed with more talk
of a cultural battlefield than a military one. There’s a commemoration
under way of the 33rd anniversary of the Iranian revolution
and an international conference on “Hollywoodism and Cinema” as an
extension of an annual Fajr film festival
And
that’s what I am doing here, as a guest participant in an event that
sees Hollywood as a bigger enemy than the Pentagon.
As we all know only too well, the United States and Israel would hate
to see Iran possessing nuclear weapons. Being "the only nuclear power
in the Middle East" is a great card for Israel to have in its hand. But
— in the real, non-propaganda world — is USrael actually fearful of an
attack from a nuclear-armed Iran? In case you've forgotten ...
In 2007, in a closed discussion, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
said that in her opinion "Iranian nuclear weapons do not pose an
existential threat to Israel." She "also criticized the exaggerated use
that [Israeli] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is making of the issue of the
Iranian bomb, claiming that he is attempting to rally the public around
him by playing on its most basic fears." 1
2009: "A senior Israeli official in Washington" asserted that "Iran
would be unlikely to use its missiles in an attack [against Israel]
because of the certainty of retaliation." 2
Prophetic politics: Charting a healthy role for religion in public life
by Robert Jensen
Does God take sides in the elections? Is there a voters’ guide hiding in our holy books? Should we pray for electoral inspiration?
Secular people tend to answer an emphatic “NO” to those questions, as do most progressive religious folk. Because religious fundamentalists so often present an easy-to-caricature version of faith-based politics -- even to the point of implying that God would want us to vote for certain candidates -- it’s tempting to want to banish all talk of the divine from political life.
But a blanket claim that “religion and politics don’t mix” misunderstands the inevitable connection between the two. Whether secular or religious, our political judgments are always rooted in first principles -- claims about what it means to be human that can’t be reduced to evidence and logic. Should people act purely out of self-interest, or is solidarity with others just as important? Do we owe loyalty to a nation-state? Under what conditions, if any, is the taking of a human life justified? What is the appropriate relationship of human beings to the larger living world?
These basic moral/spiritual questions underlie everyone’s politics, and our answers are shaped by the philosophical and/or theological systems in which we find inspiration and insight.
The Norwegian salmon farming industry got a lesson in the old adage, "be
careful what you wish for" this week when it learned of industry critic
Don Staniford's next job.
The British-born, globe-trotting salmon activist announced on his blog
yesterday that following his scheduled deportation from Canada later
this month he will be heading to Norway to work with that country's
leading environmentalist bad boy, Kurt Oddekalv, head of the Green
Warriors of Norway.
The industry may have got its wish - seeing
the last of Staniford in BC - but it's turning out to be a case of out
of the frying pan, into the fire.
Oddekalv had this to say on the
development:
“I am pleased to announce that Don Staniford is coming to
Norway to spearhead the global work of the Green Warriors. Once he has
finished fighting the Norwegian Government owned company Cermaq in the
Supreme Court of British Columbia, Don is welcome here in Norway.
Cermaq's problems in Canada are coming home to roost.”
Sparring in the fish farm debate has mutated into a
full-fledged boxing match in the Supreme Court around the issue of free
speech and the health implications of the industry.
Fish farm critic Don Staniford, centre, had a
defamation lawsuit filed against him after he compared the fish farm
industry to big tobacco. He is seen here with his lawyer David
Sutherland, left, and UVic Environmental Studies professor John Volpe. (photo: Mark Worthing)
Fish farm critic
Don Staniford has found himself in a 20-day defamation lawsuit, with
only one month left in the country before his deportation back to the
U.K.
“This is one person and a lawyer taking on a multinational corporation,” Staniford told the Martlet last week.
Sparring in the fish farm debate has mutated into a
full-fledged boxing match in the Supreme Court around the issue of free
speech and the health implications of the industry. 
