(By Arnold August, Havana) On July 11th, 2008 the First Ordinary Session of Cuba’s current legislature took place. The National Assembly of People’s Power that was elected on January 20th, 2008, met in Havana’s National Congress Center. More than 92% of the 619 deputies were present. Among the elected deputies absent was Fidel Castro. He, however, had his place of honour: the seat next to the new president of the Council of State, Raúl Castro, was left vacant. During the proceedings it was evident that there is a stable transition of leadership to the new Council of State elected by the deputies last February 24th. Fidel Castro has been as active as ever─even more so─ in the last few weeks. He continues to write his reflections (sometimes several times a week) on a number of national and especially international issues. He also meets regularly with heads of state, representatives from various countries and international cultural figures.

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(Socialist Project E-Bulletin no. 123. By Roger Annis.) Five thousand workers at one of British Columbia’s largest grocery chains, the Overwaitea Food Group (OFG), have ended a difficult round of collective bargaining by voting in favour of a new agreement with a 75% majority.

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As shown on Ch4 and repeated several times on More4, available at IndyBay on the web and many other places, now on google video (not great video quality) Robert’s stand-up act examines the history of the last 100 years or so but putting oil center-stage. Brilliant!

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(The following is an extract from an article in Sawt el-Amel/The Laborer’s Voice, an independent grassroots organization founded by Palestinian Arab workers in Nazareth in 2000 to defend and promote the rights of Arab citizens in Israel.) The need to establish a trade union association for Palestinian Arab workers who hold Israeli citizenship did not arise out of a vacuum, nor was it born of coincidence; rather, it is urgently required to fulfill the ambitions of those Palestinian workers who remained on their lands after the Nakba of 1948. It is also a direct result of the historical events the Palestinian people experienced after the Nakba and the subsequent collapse of the Palestinian trade union movement, whose activities were centered in the city of Haifa. The Palestinian working class in Israel is among the poorest sections of society and the one whose rights are most abused by employers. It should be emphasised that this group of workers is part of the Arab Palestinian minority holding Israeli citizenship, which has been faced with racial discrimination for sixty years, as manifested in land confiscations, home demolitions and the denial of work opportunities. Their land was confiscated, their jobs lost, and - after Israel brought in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers as cheap labor in the building, agricultural and service sectors to replace Arab workers – their economic survival depended on social security benefits from the Israeli National Insurance Institute.

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Conversation gets cut short virtually every time I try to initiate some form of serious discussion with friends. The Canadians I know are some of the most complicit, laissez-faire bunch I have ever met, and they’re only part of a larger national apathy that corrodes any illusion of democracy. I was utterly outraged – on the verge of tears – when a newfound friend of mine told me he had to drop out of school because the provincial government deleted records qualifying him for free transport. His spastic cystic fibrosis leaves the 32 year old bound to his wheelchair for life, and he has been trying to graduate for years despite financial and physical hardships just so he can prove his family he is worth a damn. And the provincial government come along and delete his transport file, setting him back another year before graduation. This never should have happened and the government should be held directly accountable. There was no accountability whatsoever. He’s going back to university in September, but he’s not getting any younger. The province certainly don’t care about his time, and it’s clear they’d rather have him stay home where he is cheapest to take care of. So who does care about his time? Not us. It doesn’t affect us. All I heard from people where apathetic sighs. That’s the government for you, they said to me, what do you expect? I expect more. An awful lot more. And I’ll fight for it, for my buddy, anyway way I can.

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A Report by Leo Panitch on the International Seminar organized by the Brazilian Landless People’s Movement (MST) in honour of Che’s 80th Birthday.

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In the aftermath of World War II, Japan’s new pacifist constitution renounced the right to wage war and maintain military forces. Instead, Japan created the Self-Defense Forces with a strictly defensive mandate.

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(By Josh Gerstein, The New York Sun) Just days after clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Obama is naming as his economic policy director an economist who has clashed with critics of Wal-Mart by defending the company as a boon to poor Americans.0610 05 1

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(By Madeline Bruce) Hmmmm, what’s on CBC’s The Hour this week…WOW - a rerun of Barbara Walters plugging her new book. We learn of her affair with a prominent married man. Ich! Why should Canadian air time be given to this immensely wealthy woman to plug her new book? What about showcasing interesting Canadians, and giving some new Canadian talent a break. How about having the brilliant Nanaimo filmaker Paul Manly on this show? I DARE YOU. Okay then, go and scurry back underneath your rock.

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The number of polls informing Canadians of their Canadianisms is remarkable. Polls on Canadian icons, polls on Canadian values and even a poll on “what makes a Canadian pizza, Canadian.” So it was refreshing to see a mildly critical headline in the Globe and Mail titled “The foreign policy myth.” Now that readers know what makes a Canadian pizza, Canadian, the Globe asked what makes Canadian foreign policy, Canadian?

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