marxism 2011 program notes: how can we stop the right?
These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here. * * * * How can we stop the right?Christine Beckermann, member of ISMay 29,…
US politics
marxism 2011 program notes: workers fight back: lessons from wisconsin
These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here. * * * * How can we stop the right?Christine Beckermann, member of ISMay 29,…
Wildrose defeat shows the limits of social conservatism in Canada
Alberta is Canada’s most right leaning province. The Wildrose party is a further right splitting of the long dominant right leaning party in Alberta. If there is anywhere that the…
Connecticut abolishes death penalty
This is easily the good news story of the day. Last night, the state legislature in Connecticut abolished the death penalty. The number of states that have done away with…
Holiday Weekend Link Round-up (Or, Yes, I WAS too lazy to write something original. Deal.)
What you should be reading this holiday weekend, in lieu of spending quality time with your family/loved ones (like yrs truly will be a little later): – Open ass, insert…
Think It’s Okay to Feed The Homeless? Think Again!
New York City. Dallas. Houston.Las Vegas. Orlando. Philadelphia. All major US cities that have now BANNED distribution of food to the homeless in some form. Numerous reasons are sited such…
On unnecessarily codifying specific freedoms such as the freedom of religion
Should there be explicit protection for the freedom of religion in the founding documents of society? This question may at first seem to be an obvious ‘yes’ since almost everyone…
latest threat to internet freedom from u.s. corporatocracy: stop cispa
The US Congress and its corporate partners want the right of warrantless spying on every internet user, anywhere in the world. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) would…
Blast Furnace Canada Blog 2012-04-04 14:56:00
The decision this week by the ruling Conservatives to abolish the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development — also known by the shorthand “Rights and Democracy” — isn’t…
The Pursuit of Happiness
Thom Hartmann just couldn’t resist drawing some obvious conclusions the first World Happiness Report released earlier this week showing that the world’s happiest countries are all in northern Europe with…
Utah Data Center: ‘a massive eavesdropping complex’
Wired Magazine has an article about a new NSA spy center being constructed in Utah. It has the user friendly name Utah Data Center. Wired: A project of immense secrecy,…
“Freeloading Welfare Queens”
As a counterpoint to Alexandra Pelosi’s somewhat controversial piece the previous week interviewing “typical” Republican voters in Mississippi, on last Friday’s Real Time, Bill Maher aired “the thing that would…
Rick Santorum to wage war on America’s ‘porn pandemic’
Republican social issues crusader Rick Santorum has described contraception as “a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.” In…
Do Republicans want a religious extremist as their nominee?
The U.S. has troops in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and numerous other countries, and there’s some definite sabre rattling happening right now in the direction of Iran from some…
Another massacre in Afghanistan
If this is how one “wins the hearts and minds” of a people, this past weekend’s massacre of 16 civilians by a US soldier has only succeeded in creating even…
‘Doonesbury’ abortion strip sparks controversy
Part of an earlier Doonesbury strip in abortion-related series A Doonesbury strip due to run next week that addresses the harsh realities of the Texas abortion law may be rejected…
Think Ron Paul is nuts? Good, the MSM is doing its job…check out John Stewart
Ron Paul could easily drop out of the GOP race and coporate media would be very happy. They’ve built up candidates like Rick Santorum, while working very hard at avoiding…