from Mother Jones
In the wake of the unthinkable massacre in Connecticut, pro-gun ideologues are once again calling for ordinary citizens to arm themselves as a solution to mass shootings. If only the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School had possessed a M-4 assault rifle she could've stopped the killer, they say. This latest twist on a long-running argument isn't just absurd on its face; there is no evidence to support it…
from AlterNet
We’ve heard a lot about the union-busting bill that passed in Michigan earlier this week, and for good reason: it was a surprise to almost everyone that the odious bill came up in the lame-duck state legislative session, and a great turnout by protesters ensured that news cameras were watching…
from truthout
Meaningful action on gun control in the US has been thwarted, largely because of the power and wealth of the National Rifle Association (NRA). One of the key avenues it has used to exert its influence is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). For decades, the NRA has helped bankroll ALEC operations and even co-chaired ALEC's "Public Safety and Elections Task Force," where it secretly voted on bills alongside elected representatives. At ALEC's annual meeting this summer, the NRA had the biggest booth at the convention in Salt Lake City and also underwrote a shooting event along with one of the largest sellers of assault weapons in the world…
from Boston's The Phoenix
Naomi Klein, black-clad and sharp-tongued mistress of the global anti-corporate left, friend to Occupiers and scourge of oil barons, stood outside a dressing room backstage at Boston's Orpheum Theatre one night last month, a clear-eyed baby boy on her hip.
"I'm really trying not to play the Earth Mother card," Klein told me over the phone the week before, as she talked about bringing Toma, her first child, into the world. But she didn't need to worry.
by Danielle Silva
Clamors for peace inside the mammoth Toys “R” Us emporium in Times Square might not be unusual coming from parents and directed at their toddlers demanding yet another Barbie doll or another ride on the store’s Ferris wheel.
But on Wednesday, the exhortations for peace were coming from an unexpected source – older women who belong to the Granny Peace Brigade and the Raging Grannies, two groups that have gained widespread attention for their demonstrations against the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars…
from The Star Phoenix
Ebenezer Scrooge made an appearance at the legislature last week. With the introduction of its new Employment Act, Premier Brad Wall's government showed us just how miserly it is when it comes to overtime pay for Saskatchewan's non-unionized workers.
from Real News Network
Frank Hammer: GOP Governor and State legislature pass law weakening union rights..
from Hill Times
PARLIAMENT HILL — Evidence in a Federal Court challenge of the results in six ridings from the 2011 federal election appears to back up claims from a key witness that she believed she was misdirecting voters while passing on poll location changes as a telephone caller for the Conservative Party’s principal voter-contact firm…
from The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA — As far as NDP leader Tom Mulcair is concerned, there’s just one clear net benefit to a Chinese state-owned company’s takeover of a Calgary-based petroleum producer – and that’s to the shareholders.
from The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA — The F-35 jet fighter purchase, the most persistent thorn in the federal government’s side and the subject of a devastating auditor-general’s report last spring, is dead.
