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!
Robert Newman’s History of Oil - 45 min of brilliance
Canadian Dimension, July 11th, 2008, No Comments »
Palestinian Arab workers rights in Israel
Canadian Dimension, July 11th, 2008, No Comments »
(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.
Mother’s Mother’s Mother: The Legacy and Rebellion of Aboriginal Women’s art exhibit
Chris Webb, July 10th, 2008, No Comments »
If you’re around Winnipeg from July 10 - August 16th, 2008, I recommend you check out a great exhibit being put on by Ace Art Inc., Urban Shaman and the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba.
Stop the Imminent Deportation of US War Resisters: Cross Canada Actions
Chris Webb, July 10th, 2008, No Comments »
This from the Canadian War Resisters Support Campaign
War Resister Robin Long is being held in jail in Nelson, B.C. and is threatened with deportation to the United States on Monday, July 14.
Dissecting the G8
Chris Webb, July 9th, 2008, No Comments »
So this image basically captures the essence of what the G8 is all about:
Lighten up? Canada’s perilous and intolerable apathy
Canadian Dimension, July 8th, 2008, 9 Comments »
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.
Movements, Debates and Struggles in Latin America
Canadian Dimension, July 7th, 2008, 1 Comment »
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.
“Japan’s About-Face” premieres on July 8
Canadian Dimension, July 7th, 2008, No Comments »
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.
Protestors Target First Day of G8
Chris Webb, July 7th, 2008, No Comments »
Protesters and police engaged in a stand-off at the G8 summit in Japan today. Around 50 anti-globalisation protestors, mostly from abroad, marched towards the Group of Eight leaders’ hilltop hotel in Toyako but were stopped by more than 100 riot police before they could get close. After half an hour, the activists retreated to their campsite. On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city of Sapporo, but no protestors have been able to get near the isolated venue where leaders met today for the first day of the annual summit. (Panos)
An Open Letter to Barack Obama on Iran
Chris Webb, July 7th, 2008, No Comments »
Dear Senator Obama,
We the undersigned may have different views on U.S. foreign policy with respect to Iran. We all, however, are deeply concerned about the stories in the press in the past few weeks suggesting that the Bush administration might be considering a military strike on Iran, that it might give a green light to such an attack by Israel, or that it might engage in other acts of war, such as imposing a blockade against Iran.
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