flags encore

My recent post on the US and Canada's flags inspired some terrific comments. You can read them here.

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april 28: day of mourning for workers killed and injured on the job

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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...
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william blum: change (in rhetoric) we can believe in

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...
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the f-word: famine is the real obscenity

Signing a petition seems such a paltry, insignificant act when measured against the massive starvation in Somalia. I remind myself of what Gandhi said: Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. Please sign the petition to G20 decision makers, demanding action to end the famine in Somalia. The petition page says, "Drought is an act of nature. Famine is man made." Right now, drought may be largely human-made, too, as climate change causes more land to become desert. One thing's for sure, though. There is enough food on this planet to feed everyone. If signing petitions and making small donations are all we can do, then signing and donating it is. Petition here.
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