Or a tripat. Something like that. BWV from It's Time has some interesting observations about one of his adopted countries (Canada). I'll comment on them tomorrow.
April 28 is the Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job. The canary is a potent symbol and a powerful reminder. This tiny, fragile bird was the only thing that stood between miners and a suffocating death. The world over, workers are little more than canaries in their own workplaces. No worker should ever be killed or injured because of work, yet it happens on a regular basis. The pandemic has put the spotlight on the many dangers that workers face every day -- but it hasn't led to employers or governments bringing an end to dangerous practices. In Canada and the US, a huge percentage of workers don't even have access to paid sick leave. And the pandemic has only extended the long reach of precarious work. When workers do not have guaranteed work, or don't get enough hours, or earn too little to survive, they are much less likely to speak up about unsafe working conditions. Employers know this. In the precarious workplace, all too often there is scant att...
When liberal USians talk about the differences President Obama has made and will make, they usually focus on domestic issues and ending the US occupation of Iraq. I don't blame them for being happy and hopeful. There's no doubt that many aspects of US life will improve under Obama. The fact of his election alone - and I don't mean his skin colour - is reason to cheer. In my experience, the Obama crowd rarely mentions US foreign policy, except in terms of Iraq and Iran, where they expect improvement, and Afghanistan, where they don't. It seems that most people either don't grasp the US's pervasive and often disastrous global influence, or they understand and accept that it won't change. William Blum, author of Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2 , writes the " Anti-Empire Report ," which you can subscribe to if you want to stay informed and depressed. This recent entry is circulating, and well worth reading. I've sa...
These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here. * * * * This was just weeks after the 2011 election, and is very interesting to think about at the one-year mark of Harper's majority. Given what we know now - Jack Layton's death, the NDP's election of a centrist leader, the continued revelations of Conservative election fraud, the extreme ideology of the Harper government - what would we add to this today? Prospects for the Left under a Harper Majority Panel Discussion, May 28, 2011 Monique Moisan, Quebec Solidaire The election results from Quebec amazed everyone. We knew there was an “orange wave” but no one knew how big it was! Quebec is clearly anti-Harper. We know what Quebec doesn’t want! This was not an anti-Bloc vote, as many think. It was a statement that sovereignty is not an issue for most Quebec voters. The issues are was Layton talked about: public services, health care, pensions. Economic security. The Bloc formed in 1993 ...
Maybe I should rename my blog, "Crap! I'm stuck in the US". But I guess that's what happens when you marry a Texan. BBQ anyone?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should rename my blog, "Crap! I'm stuck in the US". But I guess that's what happens when you marry a Texan. BBQ anyone?
ReplyDelete