from The Nation
In Chicago, Black History Month is a time when some of us reflect on one of our poorest-kept secrets, an ongoing injustice born of brutal, systemic racism, which has spread over a generation and whose stain is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city..
by Barbara and John Ehrenreich
…The Internet is often blamed for the plight of journalists, writers, and editors, but economic change preceded technological transformation. Journalism jobs began to disappear as corporations, responding in part to Wall Street investors, tried to squeeze higher profit margins out of newspapers and TV news programs. The effects of these changes on the traditionally creative professions have been dire. Staff writers, editors, photographers, announcers, and the like faced massive layoffs (more than 25 percent of newsroom staff alone since 2001), increased workloads, salary cuts, and buy-outs.
by Brent Patterson
The Attawapiskat First Nation and the International Indian Treaty Council have sought the support of the United Nations to stop C-38 and C-45. They state that the Harper government failed in their Duty to Consult as guaranteed by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Constitution Act.
In their request for consideration under the "Early Warning/ Urgent Action Procedures" of UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), they argue in part that C-45 “removed fish habitat protections” and “changed the Navigable Waters Protection Act to a new format called the Navigation Protection Act, removing protection for 99.9 per cent of lakes and rivers in Canada.” They also note that, “The Frog Lake First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation, through their respective Chiefs, launched judicial review cases in the Federal Court. They are challenging the passage of the Bills C-38 and C-45. However, this form of justice is slow and expensive and inaccessible for many other First Nations or Aboriginal peoples in Canada.”…
from The Independent
Controversial nerve-agent pesticides widely linked to decline in bees around the world should be banned, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says today…
by Steven Staples, from The Ottawa Citizen
The Canadian public is leery of the role being played by our military in the troubled West African country of Mali, and rightly so. Having emerged from the sacrifices made in Afghanistan with seemingly little to show for them, Canadians cannot be faulted for fearing “mission creep” and involvement in another unwinnable conflict…
by Rick Ungar for Forbes Magazine
Everyone enjoys a good conspiracy theory.
Of course, we rarely get to find out whether the theory has any truth or is nothing more than a fanciful narrative created by someone with too much time on their hands.<!–more–>
But now, there is a conspiracy theory coming out of the fiasco in Wisconsin that may tell us everything we ever needed to know about Governor Scott Walker – and the cool part is that it comes with a verifiable ending.
Check out Section 44.16.896 of Wisconsin Senate Bill 11, which reads–
(1) Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).
What this says is that the State of Wisconsin can sell or contract out management of state-owned heating, cooling and power plants without the requirement that bids for such a sale or leasing be solicited so as to maximize what the government can pocket through such an arrangement.
Put another way, the state can pick who they want and make whatever deal they want without anyone else having a chance to bid on the deal.
You have to admit- that is pretty unusual. States typically have a strict responsibility to maximize any such sale or lease to fulfill government’s obligation to get the best deal possible for the people of the state.
So, who in the state of Wisconsin would be in a position to buy or operate these utilities such operations and benefit from a bid-free scenario?…
from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
A recent report by Simon Enoch in behindthenumbers.ca compares the Wall government's "Sask First" policy to the stratagems of the Manitoba government of the mid-1990s: prevent Crown corporations from profitability by forcing them to divest out-of-province assets, discourage them from competing with the private sector for in-province investments and divert profits to general revenue. Then claim that Crown corporations are inefficient dinosaurs that should be privatized.
from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Trish Hennessy comments in behindthenumbers.ca on a recent Fraser Institute report warning Ontario could become the next Greece because of the size of its debt. Even the International Monetary Fund, she notes, has admitted that Europe went too far with austerity measures.
from TheTyee.ca
Company's plea to end dispute over foreign workers called 'nonsense' by labour spokesman…
