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CEOs push austerity, rake in taxpayer-subsidized bonuses

May 022013

Report: 'performance pay' loophole cost taxpayers $1 billion in 2009 – 2011.

from the Campaign for America's Future

WASHINGTON DC, May 2, 2013 — Ordinary taxpayers are subsidizing exorbitant executive pay at the corporations leading the push for austerity in the budget debate, according to a new report by the Institute for Policy Studies and Campaign for America’s Future.

The report is the first to put a price tag on the tax breaks specific corporations have enjoyed from a loophole that allows unlimited deductions for executive stock options and other “performance-based” pay. It focuses on corporate members of Fix the Debt, a lobby group that is calling for “shared sacrifice” while quietly advocating for cuts to Social Security and more corporate tax breaks.
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BC: rolling back labour standards

May 012013

Workplaces

Weakened employment laws leave lower-wage workers struggling.

by David Fairey and Marjorie Griffin Cohen

BC has acquired the sad distinction of being home to Canada’s largest income gap, highest poverty rate, and second highest child poverty rate. It also has greater employment insecurity and lower wages than the national average, even though BC is the province with the highest cost of living in Canada.

How has this occurred in such a rich province?

The answer is at least partially due to the low-wage policies the BC government has implemented in the twenty-first century through changes to the Employment Standards Act (ESA). These changes, beginning in 2001, represented a dramatic roll-back of worker rights.

‘Buy guns in US,’ al Qaeda urges Muslims

Apr 302013

USA watch

CNN reports that easy gun laws, no background checks, facilitate terrorism at home.

from CNN

al Qaeda video urges sympathizers to arm themselves and plan terrorist actions.

A Dove commercial for guys

Apr 252013

Humour

A funny thing happens when guys describe themselves — and others.

by Cladwell Man

Dove commercial parody

Digital piracy worse than Taliban: Pashtun music star

Apr 252013

Media files

In violence-wracked Peshawar, the enforcement of copyright laws seems like wishful thinking.

by Haroon Bacha and Abubakar Siddique

When future generations ask who silenced Pashtun music, the Taliban won’t get the blame — piracy will.

The “pirates” are easily identifiable — they are the young men armed with laptops who can be found on street corners throughout northwestern Pakistan. Word on the street is that they are the ones to talk to when you need the latest hit. Within minutes, they can upload whatever you need onto memory sticks, smart phones, or blank CDs at a fraction of the cost of buying the original recordings.

Combined with the scores of dedicated Pashto-music websites offering unlimited free downloads, these modern-day pirates are heralding the demise of a cultural icon.

Canadian Jewish News to close

Apr 222013

Media files

National Jewish newspaper has published for 42 years.

from the Canadian Jewish News

The Canadian Jewish News will cease publishing in two months. The board of directors arrived at the decision on Friday, April 19, having regard to the fact that there were still assets on hand with which to provide meaningful severance to the newspaper’s employees and to wind up operations properly.

What Rehteah knew

Apr 222013

Canadian politics

Girls in Canada experience violence every day, sometimes with dire consequences.

by Saman Ahsan

The news of Rehtaeh Parsons' alleged rape and eventual death has been called tragic, shameful and sickening. The truth is that Parsons' story is yet another example of violence against girls, an ongoing crisis we too often ignore. Sadly, for those of us working in the field of violence prevention, Rehtaeh’s story only reinforces a fact we have known for years: girls-next-door experience violence on a daily basis.

Counter attack ad

Apr 202013

Humour

One perspective on what the Harperite attack ads against Justin Trudeau are really saying.

from the Internet

Justin Trudeau: good looks aren't everything.

Awaiting the gay onslaught

Apr 192013

Humour

NZ MP delivers brilliant, hilarious speech about why he voted yes on same-sex marriage.

from Upworthy

Maurice Williamson, a member of Parliament from Pakuranga, promises the world will not end.

How to power the world without fossil fuels

Apr 192013

Hot headlines

Mark Jacobson says he can run the planet solely on wind, water and solar energy. First stop: New York State.

by Mark Fischetti

Three times now, Mark Jacobson has gone out on the same limb. In 2009 he and co-author Mark Delucchi published a cover story in Scientific American that showed how the entire world could get all of its energy — fuel as well as electricity — from wind, water and solar sources by 2030. No coal or oil, no nuclear or natural gas. The tale sounded infeasible — except that Jacobson, from Stanford University, and Delucchi, from the University of California, Davis, calculated just how many hydroelectric dams, wave-energy systems, wind turbines, solar power plants and rooftop photovoltaic installations the world would need to run itself completely on renewable energy.

The article sparked a spirited debate on our Web site, and it also sparked a larger debate between forward-looking energy planners and those who would rather preserve the status quo. The duo went on to publish a detailed study in the journal Energy Policy that also called out numbers for a U.S. strategy.

Two weeks ago Jacobson and a larger team, including Delucchi, did it again….

Full story

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