China’s aid practice: An example in the Pacific Islands

On China’s “aid” practice:

From the Pacific Islands’ ”Matangi Tonga Online” contributor Fergus Hanson, author the 22 July 2009 story “China: influence in the Pacific” wrote:

“China has stepped up its aid program to the Pacific, but until recently it was very hard to know just how much aid it was giving and what effect it was having in Pacific countries. That’s because China still regards the details of its aid program as a state secret and refuses to publish details about it.” Source: Matangi

Hanson goes on to explain that data gathered from reliable local sources regarding the difference between aid funds and materials promised, and aid funds delivered, did not balance.

Presumably this imbalance creates uncertainty for aid managers to confidently plan for effective delivery of programmes, and control by China on the Pacific Islanders because donor foreigners, the Chinese government, control the purse strings, and they manipulate money flow, and when the money should be stopped.

However, Hanson’s collected data of Chinese aid projects allowed him to claim that:

“The quality of the data has allowed Chinese grants and loans to the region to be disaggregated [e.g. separate into component parts] for the first time…” Source: Matangi

and,

“That means China is giving aid at around the same level as other major regional donors such as New Zealand, Japan and the European Community. But it still doesn’t come close to Australia which gave almost $US 600 million in development assistance to the Pacific in 2007″. Source: Matangi

In his attempt to gently nudge the Chinese regime to administer their aid programme similar to the standards claimed by western governments, Hanson ignores the fact that China is, after-all, a Communist regime, and not democratically governed as are most western countries. So why, one might wonder, is it not a surprise that China’s ‘aid’ programmes have the appearance of ‘foreign resources acquisition’ more than a charitable presence? <end>

N.B.Fergus Hanson is a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy and is the author of the report ‘China: stumbling through the pacific’ http://www.lowyinstitute.org [Click on Publications, then Policy Briefs: scroll down to 22 July 2009]

Say NO! to more Canadian CF-18 fighter bombers in Afghanistan.

Source: Ceasefire.ca petition to Conservative Government in Ottawa.

Stephen Staples, president of the Rideau Institute on International Affairs speaks to yet another Canadian government crises-in-the-making  and urges all supporters of  peace to make known their opposition to the Afghan war. Staples wrote:

We need every ounce of energy to work to end Canada’s war in Afghanistan. Both Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff have supported the war, creating a powerful, pro-militarist bloc in Parliament. Source: ceasefire.ca

Odious are the war-mongers, the associates of politicians, who profit from government patronage, whose expensive decisions tend not to honour the maxim of good stewardship of tax payers dollars. Instead Afghanistan is a  policy of government waste of lives and national revenue to support corporate interests. To what end, may we ask!? From ceasfire.ca:

Equally alarming is the growing power of the “big business” side of the Liberal Party. Former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley has replaced Tom d’Aquino as the head of the powerful lobby group, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. Source: ceasefire.ca

Much can be learned from advocacy groups such as Ceasefire; but sadly how often do we read that other governments are also only interested in the financial well-being of their own corporate friends at the expense of the average voter. Please say No!

Parkinson’s Disease, and Cataracts – Part 2

A personal account:

Finally I am able to work a little at the computer, with increasing comfort, after operations to have cataracts removed from both eyes.

Fortunately, I was called to have the second operation appointment brought forward by three weeks which I gladly accepted, so the whole process is accelerated and I should be fitted with new glasses in about four to six weeks time.

As I explained in the previous story (Part 1) my ophthalmologist was concerned with the possibility of my Parkinson’s tremors to my right side of my body deteriorating further and affecting the muscles of my neck which, in turn, could cause the eye muscles to become erratic: it was thought that my tremors currently were at a manageable level.

During the pre-operation there was plenty of time to quietly practice meditation exercises to calm the mind. However, a nurse fixed an intravenous drip to my arm as a precaution to be connected if necessary to reduce tremors if they occurred.

Both operations took about twenty-five minutes each. Instead of pain or discomfort I was more aware of slight sounds of instruments whirring and the spectacle of colours displayed in a black ‘cosmic’  background from the inner area behind my eyes. Together, with the occasional appearance of being entombed in a massive crystal space none of this was upsetting, just remarkable.

My Parkinson’s tremors were almost negligible during both operations, but they manifested themselves within hours with greater intensity than previous experiences. I have another six weeks to wait, for my vision to be healed completely; that is the time nature needs to do its job of healing.

Parkinson’s Disease, which cannot be cured is known as a ‘chronic’ disease.  The muscles  ‘malfunction’ when a breakdown in the brain’s ability  to produce dopamine affects the circuitry of the brain.

Not all Parkinson’s patients have  the same health profile and my profile includes post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd).  Because of this disorder I am very sensitive to even minor stress, which when experienced exacerbates my tremors. Therefore, my adrenal glands are in continuous need of treatment and they do not function very well and must be regularly monitored by a doctor.

In summary, my successful cataract surgery has multiple benefits. The first is that due to the  implant of corrective lenses I shall be without glasses for the first time in fifty-three years, except for reading. The second is the elimination of eye strain while using the computer. Consequently, with eye-strain eliminated my stress is lower  which in turn reduces my Parkinson’s tremors.

Fearful of Nighttime Dark

Fearful of the approach of nighttime dark
To walk, to hide, to sleep, and wait
For the morning dawn of light and lies;
Is there no escape from political pretense?

Not for me, nor mine, the corporate bonus.
We believed that to vote the system changes.
It does! For the banking elite, the greedy cheats:
While I walk in fear along the grubby streets.

From a place too poor to attend a school,
Unqualified to work, or to be trained, I hustled,
Was honest and fair. Like others, we voted
For political change: for us that never happened.

For the likes of me there is no change in our lives
We aren’t wealthy, nor are we useful, except
As commodities. Used maybe, to fight imperial wars,
And get blown-up for policies we did not vote for.

Organic foods: Promoted or Pesecuted?

Dr. Elmar Ritzinger is the head of the Directorate for Sustainability and Rural Development in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment, and Water Management.

He spoke at  Minneapolis University, as part of the Centre for Austrian Studies (CAS) American-Austrian public forum, “Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture & Bioresources,” where he appeared at a panel discussion on organic farming.

In response to interviewer David Pinkerton, Ritzinger explained that the Austrian government’s  interest in organic farming began at the end of World War II, and the government began giving financial support to organic farmers in the 1980’s.

The agricultural  ministry wanted to become involved in what was called at the time ‘eco-social market policy’ and integrated environmental concerns and ecological concerns into agricultural policy-making.

These early initiatives stood  Austria well as it moved into the European Union whose policy initiatives also centred around environmental issues, less favoured areas, investment, and natural development in general.

The interview explored how farmers go about applying for the government programme; risk reduction for farmers  who spend more in planting  organically and having the confidence that by selling  their yields at a fair price there is in fact a price reduction for the consumer in the  marketplace. The federal government also includes funding to the organic farmers to create stronger professional organizations.

For a comparison of the surface difference between the Austrian model of government concern for ethically produced produce for the well being of the average Austrian.

There is also the obscene rush by American and Canadian government officials who are hell bent on the organic industry  to be taken over by the  Monsanto’s of this world, and their anti-social quest to engineer the quality of food, or indeed if there is sufficient food for selected demographic populations. see: Food Fight: ORGANIC and BACKYARD FARMING being made ILLEGAL? by sara star

The image conjures up thoughts of an Orwellian Corporate control of people as commodities of the genetically engineered corporate agenda.

Genetically engineered food and animal farming pose a threat similar to the current  banking and mortgage  crises predicated on corporate greed will do more damage than it will be able to control, not in terms of lost money but, more ghoulishly, in lost lives.

source: Centre for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota: Austrian Studies Newsletter [ASN] Volume 21, No. 1 | Spring 2009 [pdf file, click to pages 6 & 7]

Parkinson’s Disease and Cataracts

A personal account:-

My appointment this morning (Friday 9 April) with my ophthalmologist was labeled ‘routine’. The outcome was far from routine:

The doctor’s examination confirmed that the cataracts, mild six months ago, now required surgical attention in both eyes. She recommended that I should be operated on as soon as possible while my Parkinson’s tremors are still relatively ‘mild’.

There is no medical link between cataracts and PD as neuroparalysis gradually destroys the body’s ability to control its muscular network.

So, how soon was ‘as soon as possible’? And why the urgency?

I found the doctors answer interesting in that it she had no causal comment about my health file, or reference to, environmental extremes from my employment history where the beginnings of Parkinson’s disease might possibly have originated.

Instead, the medical criteria were predicated upon the possible (probable?) decrease in muscle control (and the increase in tremors to all muscle groups).

One of the eye tests was that of looking at a familiar wall chart through a hand held device that allowed the aperture to be altered in size.

Without my glasses my vision blurred, and yet I experienced the unfamiliar sensation as I looked through the smallest aperture that  I saw the the letters “moving” to the point that I could not clearly, or accurately, identify them.

My first impression was that my eye was flickering as it does when a  grain of dust embeds itself in the eye, but there was no pain, just the sensation of movement and yet I was aware of a lack of control from behind the eyes.

This experience was explained to me as the Parkinson’s effect on the tiny eye muscles not responding to ‘commands’ of the trembling muscles.

The  eye test was evidence of the need to operate on my cataracts, I was told, before my muscles deteriorated further.

Should that happen and my neck muscles trembled then my head would have to be taped to a  ‘solid object’ to hold it motionless before the operation could begin.

I am due to have my first operation on my right eye in May and my left eye operated on six weeks later.

How do I feel about my day today? I feel that it went very well in that my clarity of vision will be greatly enhanced as a result of the cataract operations.

China: Economic Investment Equals Political Influence

The Chinese government has been investing heavily throughout the world for many years to build its own industrial and economic infrastructure, consequently, its political stature within China has grown.

One strategy is for China to invest heavily in natural resources globally in order to help ensure future production at home. The government is now accruing a ‘fiscal surplus’, that is, money (assets), to engage in ‘discretionary’ investments.

As an example of economic investment changing its spots and becoming political interference take the scenario of Chinese investment or assets, that might be used to influence another desired, to China, political outcome.

“AFRICAN National Congress treasurer-general Mathews Phosa says the partnership between China and SA [South Africa] will be stepped up after the election.

” Source: TMCNET.COM ANC… Johannesburg, Mar 17, 2009 (Business Day/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) –

The ANC treasurer Phosa:-

“… was speaking at the launch of a representative office of the China-Africa Development Fund in Johannesburg — the first of its kind in Africa.”

and:

“Established in 2007 by the China Development Bank, the fund stems from a pledge by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the China-Africa Co-operation summit in Beijing in 2006 to foster closer ties with the African continent.”

again:

It was set up with an initial capital injection of $1bn by the China Development Fund, but capitalisation will eventually reach $5bn, said Chen Yuan, chairman of the China Development Fund.

Source: TMCNET.COM

However, on February 12, 2009, a none-too subtle threat was published  under the headline: “China warns against playing "Tibet card by Nyima Cering, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

“He added, some countries, paying no heed to their relations with China and the Chinese people’s feelings, blatantly conferred honors and titles on the Dalai Lama for nothing but using him as a tool to conduct secessionist activities against China.” Source: People’s Daily Online

To prove that  it had muscle the Chinese government evidently reminded the South African government that it would be ill-advised to host the Dalai Lama at a planned peace conference in Johannesburg.

“Beijing, an ally when South Africa’s now-governing African National Congress was a liberation movement, and Pretoria have diplomatic ties stretching back a decade and an economic relationship based on trade as well as aid.” Source: MACLEANS via Donna Bryson, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Thabo Masebe, spokesman for President Kgalema Motlanthe, said now was not the time for such a high-profile visit from the Tibetan spiritual leader and added that South Africa hoped to avoid being "the source of negative publicity about China.”

“Masebe insisted his government was not bowing to pressure from China.”

"We make our own decisions," he [Masebe] said.

But diplomatically, the reality is that whoever is economically indebted to the government of China must feel that they might have to adapt to the political wishes of the lender before the debt is repaid.

Balkans: A Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Study

peter.reardon on the ‘scars of war’:-

This study is but one outcome of the Bosnian war, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, (ptsd), it was welcome news personally that this emotional disorder is being recognised in one region, but sadly not all, of the former Jugoslavia.

I spent 12 months, until 1995, working in remote areas in Bosnia and can’t begin to comprehend the enormous need for individual treatment, or the financial cost to the government health service.

My work with aid agencies was in support of the vulnerable civilian population: women, children and the elderly, who were suffering  their own traumas for which I hope, treatment for their stress has been provided.

This story in the Inter  Press Service News Agency (IPS) was written by Vesna Peric Zimonjic in Belgrade, in the Republic of Serbia, and is the first

“…on health among war veterans in Serbia…”

Zimonjic explains who the target groups were:

“The two-year study among 2,399 soldiers in 40 municipalities shows that 84 percent of war veterans have chronic health problems, most frequently coronary and blood vessels diseases, and 54.1 percent have mental health issues.”

The IPS report rightly supports the study in which Zimonjic informs us about the limitations in the region as a whole. For example

“In Bosnia, an association of Muslim war veterans from the town Tuzla recently announced that 518 of its members had committed suicide since 1995, and that about another 300 had attempted it…In Sarajevo … one in five of 55,000 demobilised fighters suffer from PTSD but were unable "to find adequate help and understanding in society for their problems."”

A different population from the veterans mentioned above are  referenced only as:

“Some 200,000 people were forced into one or the other form of detention camps, and they have many problems they’re trying to overcome either on their own or with little expert help.”

Survivors of detention camps range in age from young children, women, and the elderly from all regions in conflict: most of whom the ‘scars of war’ will remain in the families for generations to come.

Not included in this study were those who as children were forced to walk ahead of soldiers across fields that were thought to be mined: these survivors too are also in need of treatment.

China “Implores” US to ensure safety of its Assets. Part 2 of 2

 

peter.reardon on maritime information as “assets” not included…

So what was an unarmed US navy surveillance vessel doing in “International waters” that requires a US Destroyer to escort the civilian, (CIA?) crew if it is not violating the sovereign rights of a foreign government?

In a BBC News report citing the Associated Press news agency:

“… in a strongly worded statement on Thursday [March 12], the Chinese defence ministry reiterated its position that the US ship had strayed into China’s exclusive economic zone and demanded the US "take effective measures to prevent a recurrence, …”

The problem is, China lays claim to all of the navigable area of the South China Seas, plus a number of islands which are physically closer to other south Asian countries than they are to China.

So what is China hoping to achieve by stretching the range of its territorial borders unilaterally?

According to a Jane’s press release of 02 May 2008 the location of the American ship was in the vicinity of  China’s new nuclear naval base.          

“Jane’s can confirm that the satellite pictures show that China is constructing a major underground nuclear submarine base near Sanya, on Hainan Island off its southern coast. Although Asian military sources have disclosed this fact to Jane’s as far back as 2002, high-resolution commercially available satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe provides independent verification”

In this example the American act of seeking, or securing knowledge related to China’s submarine base at Hainan island, or “military assets”, was probably not what the Chinese Premier had in mind when he urged the American government to ensure the safety of China’s assets, but only a recent US treasury bond purchase of 1-trillion dollars – and only that.

However, in diplomatic language the Chinese Premier said that the US vessel (navy surveillance?) strayed into China’s exclusive economic zone.

China “implors” US to Ensure Safety of its Assets. Part 1 ot 2

by peter.reardon | on China’s financial and military assets: -

It is left to the imagination of the general public to guess what the fine print spells out under the conditions of America’s loan, actually a US government treasury bond purchase, of one-trillion dollars.

Guardian journalists  Tania Branigan in Beijing and Simon Tisdall report:

Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, issued a veiled warning to America yesterday to maintain control over its economy in the latest sign the global economic crisis is testing the most important bilateral relationship in the world.

This financial agreement, or aid is perhaps with ‘strings  attached’ or it might otherwise be referred to as ‘tied aid’.

Such a  method of foreign control would historically reflect similar conditions to those imposed by previous US administrations on impoverished countries as international aid support.

Specifically US aid was conditional on the recipient nation spending the money in America instead of stimulating, or creating a local economy.

There are undoubtedly conditions laid down by the Chinese government officials who could perhaps smell the opportunity of political leverage in American foreign policy, and perhaps an opportunity to stimulate their own export trade.

One scenario might be for China to encourage the US government to let its bankrupt automobile industry be closed and America import Chinese made trucks and cars for the trillion dollar loan period.

Cries of “That will never happen!” doesn’t sit very well when China has, according to mtippett’s article, that China has already told the US that we, meaning China, “Own You”.

There might be Chinese vehicles on American roads before the end of 2009.

[H]ow easy and quick it is to become poor.

peter.reardon: on poverty and the fallacy of corporate bailouts: -

How useful to have this World Bank report available in support of  the poorest in society!

The article, by Marina Litvinsky and published by IPS would at first glance seem to be essential reading for ‘countries other than the industrialize group”; it is DEVELOPMENT: World’s Poor Offer Lessons in Bank Study.

Impoverishment is not unique to Africa, Asia, or Latin America, it exists where greed and doubtful democratic practice might prevail in a majority of governments globally is, therefore, part of the problem.

The world is now under no illusion as to the degree of corruption and/or greed of corporate groups.

For example tax money that is diverted from education programmes becomes a grant to fund projects of corporate friends. The lack of health care for everybody regardless of income exacerbates poverty, in part because malnourishment, or poor health, impedes learning.

“(Poor people) face a lot of exclusionary practices,” said Nora Dudwick, senior social scientist at the poverty reduction group in the poverty reduction and economic management department of the bank.

From her report Litvinsky explains the definition of poverty and  “how easy and quick it is to become poor” and “who in the community qualifies as poor”.

It isn’t only the banking/corporate elite, but also the working class elite: the international trade unions, particularly the vehicle manufacturing giants both who while crying poverty demand that the working poor should bail them out of having spent beyond their means into corporate bankruptcy.

“A lot of the reports that deal with poverty deal with income, but a (better criterion) is looking at resilience, which this report does,” she said. “It shows the importance of empowering people. And how empowering people and organisations is the way to get people out of poverty.

The working poor and those without employment are increasing daily by the thousands and a force to be trained and funded in community development

The alternative does not bear thinking about.

Ambassador’s peace wish for Israel, nothing for Palestinians…

Israeli ambassador to London, Ron Proser’s sentiment for peace was almost diplomatic, had he only included Palestinians with ‘the people of Israel’. Instead he said:

“The basic simple goal of the people of Israel is to be allowed to live in peace, without violence, without fear, and without terror.”

source: NowPublic in ‘’Recent News Quotes”

I wonder, does it not cross the minds of those governing Israel that the majority of Palestinians might also like to live in peace instead of being confined to what is a virtual ‘Refugee Camp’ named Palestine?

It is difficult for me not to see the average Palestinian living a duel life, that of refugees but also that of hostages.

I speak from my experience of having worked in refugee camps on the Thai/Cambodian border and witnessed the uncertainties of any future for the mainly Cambodian women and children other than a long incarceration, separated from family waiting to be ‘processed’ (whatever that entailed?) by the camp administrators.

In Palestine, however, the people are being processed by the Israeli military, that is, reduced in number, by its guns and missiles. These armaments, supplied by western governments, who are evidently friendly to the concept of an expanding Israel at the expense of basic human-rights for the Palestinians: that of life and freedom from the threat of death or injury, food and shelter.

Is the world prepared to sit by, I wonder, watching the absorption of the territory of Palestine by a neighbouring state which seems to covet the land of Palestine?

What part of “Progressive” does Jack Layton not understand?

peter.reardon on  Coalition Government:

When there is a political crisis supporters generally want, above all, fairness  and justice. Rather than how best an individual or group (lobby? or corporate?) might manipulate a crisis to benefit economically, or politically in some devious manner.

For example: the majority of NDP (progressive) supporters do not support military aggression and currently want the Canadian Armed Forces withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan:

a) both armed incursions which were ill advised by a deluded foreign president.

And in which both campaigns are:

(b) extraordinarily costly in terms of tax payers contributions, not to mention human stress, and loss of life, especially that of civilians, and yes, children are included in a ‘civilian’ count.

In which

(c) neither conflict can be ‘won’ by foreigners, guerrilla warfare is not easily defeated.

But somehow, between the flurry of crisis and political rhetoric, campaigning electoral candidates philosophy and promises are discarded, or they become distorted once candidates  are successfully elected.

The media, is selective in what items are reported, what it wants the public to read, or hear, and Stephen Harper meanwhile talked vaguely about a ’stimulus package’ that will be presented in the budget, (when though?) for the benefit of ‘all Canadians’.

In his apparent social stupor Mr. Harper, in Ottawa, gives the impression that the current global economic mismanagement induced crises will somehow ‘wait, in limbo’ until he decides when to act.

After the recent vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Harper in Parliament the web site ‘Canadians for a Progressive Coalition’  ( http://progressivecoalition.ca/ ) became the site in Western Canada by which to show support for the newly created coalition between the NDP and the official opposition Liberal Party, with support by the Quebec party, the Bloc Quebecois, a Provincial party.

In his article on 4 December, 2008, Keith Jones wrote: “Canada’s “putsch”: Oppose Conservative power-grab! No support to Liberal-NDP coalition!” http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/cana-d04.shtml

Few details of the coalition agreement have been made public. But it is known that the Liberal-NDP government will not “revisit” the Afghanistan issue, i.e., that the Canadian Armed Forces will continue to play a leading role in the Afghan counterinsurgency war through 2011. Also, the Liberal-NDP government will implement the Conservatives’ five-year, $50 billion-plus program of corporate tax cuts.

Apart from ignoring  ‘the wishes of the NDP membership’ whose anti-war policy was formulated at the creation of the Party in the early 1960’s, the current proposal to implement corporate tax cuts would effectively mortgage (and jeopardizes?) the future education and health care of all Canadians, especially children.

To support the Coalition, now, would negate all the past social benefits NDP made, or initiated, and risk losing those that are still in place from being ‘legislated’ into oblivion when the government ’stimulus package’ is presented.

About the Canadian stimulus package, Keith Jones said:

As for the promised massive economic stimulus package, it will be welcomed, no doubt, by the big manufacturers and politically promoted as a program to “save jobs.” But Ontario’s Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty has let it be known that any federal-provincial assistance to the automakers will be used as a means to extort sweeping new contract concessions from autoworkers. The Canadian Auto Workers union, a strong ally of McGuinty and an early advocate of a federal NDP-Liberal coalition, has already announced its willingness to make further changes in workrules, that is, to impose speed-up and job cuts.

Bailing out American off-shore trade union jobs in Canadian auto plants for the benefit of American owners would seem to be counter productive considering the need of social support for non-unionized needy Canadians from the Pacific coast, the Arctic, and the Atlantic coast who have never enjoyed the benefits of union representation in Canada.

Many (the majority?) of the women, among the ‘working-poor’ are employed in the cut-throat service industry receiving minimal rates of pay with few, or no benefits, nor regular hours (on-call) and in some cases not even receiving statutory holiday wages when the hours have been worked.

Canadian workers, Mr. Layton, are spread further than Ontario and Quebec!  Upper and Lower Canada of the 1800’s has since expanded to include working populations in Newfoundland in the east, and west to British Columbia.

They are the Canadian special interest group who are the progressives’; ordinary non-unionized, non-corporate working people. However, there are also non-progressive victims of social injustice, they too must, with equal compassion, be supported.

NowPublic

Tags: Iraq | NDP | afghanistan | World | Canadian armed forces | progressive | Stephen Harper | New Democratic Party | Prime Minister Harper | the media | stimulus package | Coalitioin Government | military aggression | guerrilla warfare | economic mismanagement | Canadians for a Progressive Coalition

Canadians For A Progressive Coalition

This is in effect a vote of non-confidence of the recently returned, minority, Conservative government to Parliament in Ottawa. There are three parties in opposition: the official opposition is the Liberal Party.

However, this Petition  is a grass-roots initiative which, according to a local Victoria television news channel CHEK TV “…  it [the Petition] is receiving considerable support.”

The Petition is newly circulated In the wake of an intense voter disapproval towards the minority conservative leader Prime minister Stephen Harper’s strong refusal to address the current economic stress in Canada.

As a grass roots movement “Canadians For a Progressive Coalition” has declared its support for the three opposition parties whose leaders have already announced  there intention to challenge the Harper governments lack of serious concern for the Canadian people.

This call for a grass-roots action for political change predicated on global economic stress is brought forward by two University of Victoria students Kyle Artelle and Jamie Biggar, whose Petition claims that:

“In 2008 the majority of Canadians voted for a prosperous, fair, and green Canada. Over 60% of voters cast their ballots for parties with progressive platforms. With 37% of the vote the Conservatives will effectively hold 100% of the power.

The Conservatives received 170,000 fewer votes than the last election, yet they won more seats. The Greens, who received 940,747 votes, are not represented at all.”

See also:

“Canadians for a Progressive Coalition are asking the NDP, Liberals, and Bloc Quebecois to form a coalition government that includes counsel from the Greens”.

More information is available at Youtube

NowPublic

Tags: Canada | Ottawa | NDP | Green Party | liberal party | Parliament | Petition | World | Conservative Party | YouTube | Prime Minister Stephen Harper | Coalition Government | Canadians For A Progressive Coalition | Bloc Quebocois

The poppy: the icon of ‘remembrance’ by leaders who opted for WW1

World, Opinion :

The ceremonies are over once again; the pomp and ceremony that indecently clouds the history that took the lives of so many servicemen in the years from 1914 to 1918.

Archeologist and historian, Neil Faulkner’s article:  “Armistice day, remembrance and the ‘glorious war’ ” published in the British SocialistWorkeronline offers a brief insight into the enormity of the pain, destruction, and imperial arrogance from national leaders of the day.

Faulkner opens his article with a reference to both Bush and Blair, which prepares the reader to recognize similarities of leadership style of Britain and Europe of 1914/18 to that which has been part of the more recent period of invasions, in turn arrogantly announced, and imperialistically implemented.

But first, Faulkner on the rationale of ‘Poppy Day’:

Why did the British ruling class create this official industry of remembrance? The First World War was different in scale from anything that had happened before. It plunged the world into an abyss of barbarism, industrialised killing and destruction, waste, suffering, and grief beyond imagination…

The survivors faced a bleak world. The post-war economy collapsed, and the reward for many returning “heroes” was the poverty and hopelessness of unemployment.

Popular revulsion against the carnage fused with class anger against exploitation and privation at home. A wave of revolution swept across Europe.

Faulkner says of the British leaders’ ignorance prior  to WW1:

“It was not that their leaders lied about the realities of modern war”

Unlike  Bush and Blair who initially lied to their constituencies, and continued to deceive the world about American and ‘Coalition’ military engagement in Iraq, and then in Afghanistan.

Even before WW1 the leaders of industry were eyeing the advantages of controlling the resources of other nations:

Under capitalism, growth meant intensified competition as the giant corporations of the global economy clashed in a struggle for markets, contracts, and profits…

But the First World War was not only an imperialist war on a global scale. It was also a war of modern industry.

Capitalism had created the corporations and empires whose collision caused the war – and also the mass industries that were to make modern war so violent and destructive.

And 90 years later with the implosion of the US capitalist system, and many other nations following in a downward spiral, as their economic systems fail change is called for, to redress the financial loss.

However, one must wonder what kind of commemoration (not poppy’s this time) will government and corporate ’spin’ artists create that will persuade the working poor to accept their decisions to work for lower wages as well as to pay for the inept excesses of their leaders from government tax revenues from the year 2008 to… when, for another three generations?

NowPublic

Tags: Government | Bush | opinion | World | Blair | Remembrance Day | Working Poor | LOWER WAGES | World War 1 | 1914 | poppy day | Neil Faulkner | SocialistWorkoeronline | 1918. 2008 | imperial arrogance | The First World War | American and Coalitioin military | commeneration

When the threat of ‘Socialism’ is used to raise fear and anger in the US population.

Culture – Politics:

-  Like many people I wanted to better understand why the US Treasury presumes to have answers to fix the problem of a recent colossal banking collapse of its own making.

I also wanted to read an account of events from a ‘left’ perspective instead of relying on the American governments self-serving right-wing spin. 

Patrick Martin wrote an article in the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) providing this mix of explaining the meaning of ’socialism’ in the context of corporate greed and manipulation, and government protection of those at risk of losing their wealth.

The cynical use of a bailout of funds by the US Treasury is the tax base of which the working people expect to support job creation, schools, and general social infra-structure. Martin clears the air about socialism:

 The federal bailout of Wall Street—despite the hysteria of the House Republicans—has nothing to do with socialism. The measures could be more correctly characterized, not as nationalization of the banks, but as privatization of the US Treasury, turning over its vast resources to billionaires and speculators.

As Presidential election time draws rapidly closer in America both candidates are also scrutinized and dispel the myth of either candidate being elected with the hope of an agenda of social improvement for the poor sponsored by either Obama or McCain; Martin again:

Obama’s denial of any connection to socialism is the truest statement he has made in the course of the campaign. He is, like McCain, a defender of the profit system and, if anything, the preferred candidate of Wall Street and finance capital. According to a report Wednesday in the Washington Post, some three quarters of the record $600 million raised by the Obama campaign has come from the wealthy and corporate interests.

It is remarkable that a presidential candidate should stand so brazenly in favor of maintaining the vastly unequal distribution of wealth in America—a country characterized by growing poverty, enormous unmet social needs, declining wages, and rising unemployment. It is equally noteworthy that Obama has sought to dispute the charge that he favors any significant redistribution of the wealth, as though that were a political sin.

One cannot know for certain how the poor will lose more basic comforts, and confidence in their elected officials with the the approach of the coming winter.

Nor can anybody speculate how the American financial system will be repaired.

But the wealthy will be fine.

The American government will look after its family of friends: after all society’s morality has taken a massive negative drop and consequently concern for the under-privileged while never high on the governments agenda will now, undoubtedly, worsen.

The fear raised by government about ’socialism’ is therefore a ‘red-herring’, or diversion, from the reality of future anti-social governance that will further disenfranchise the working poor.

NowPublic

Tags: Wall Street | fear | Republicans | opinion | World | Democrats | McCain | US Government | socialism | Working Poor | right-wing | DISENFRANCHISE | Wsws | the left | world socialist web site | US Treasury | Presedential Election | Fnancial bailout

Credit Union’s: a cautious means of money-management.

As the world knows by now the  ‘bailout package’ of the implosion of the American banking system was  rejected by Congress at its first ballot, some ill-informed Republicans referred to the proposed Bill as being ‘Socialist’, perhaps they might have said, that they did not agree with with the inclusion of Federal protection being offered to Credit Unions which are to be found world-wide. 

Brief mention was made in reference to Credit Unions by President Bush in his speech after signing the ‘bailout policy’ into law at its  second attempt at getting a majority vote. But what are Credit Union’s, (C.U’s.)?

A Credit Union is a financial co-operative The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) of America  is the national umbrella  of C.U’s in America with a membership in excess of 87 million people who have put their money where democratic oversight prevails to make many co-operatives possible.

How are Credit Unions different from other financial institutions? see CUNA: Consumer

In what other significant ways are C.U’s different from ‘Wall Street’ financial institutions?

CUNA:  In this time of accelerating change, it is important to truly understand how credit unions are unique and different, and why we remain a necessary and extremely popular financial alternative… governmental affairs

• Not-for-profit. Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives. We exist to serve our members, not to make a profit…
• Taxation. Credit unions do pay taxes – payroll taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. Congress exempts credit unions from federal income taxes…
• Ownership. Credit unions are economic democracy. Each credit union member has equal ownership and one vote — regardless of how much money a member has on deposit. At a credit union, every customer is both a member and an owner…
• Volunteer Boards. Each credit union is governed by a board of directors, elected by and from the credit union’s membership. Board members serve voluntarily.
• Membership Eligibility. By current federal statute, credit unions cannot serve the general public. People qualify for a credit union membership through their employer, organizational affiliations like churches or social groups, or a community-chartered credit union.
• Financial Education for Members. Credit unions assist members to become better- educated consumers of financial services. Additionally, CUNA is partnering with the National Endowment for Financial Education, a not-for-profit foundation, to expand financial education among high school students…
• Social Purpose: People Helping People. Credit unions exist to help people, not make a profit. Our goal is to serve all of our members well, including those of modest means – every member counts. Our members are fiercely loyal for this reason. They know their credit union will be there for them in bad times, as well as good…

NowPublic

Tags: Culture | President Bush | opinion | consumer | credit union | socialist | bailout-package | Credit Union National Association | CUNA | govermental affairs | Money-management

US army personnel to taser anti-tax demonstrators: as of October 1st 2008

Having failed to claim ‘victory’ in Iraq the ‘homeland brigade’ is looking for unarmed targets to use to shoot at back home where there will be, presumably, no retaliation.  According to staff writer Gino Cavallaro, of the military publication ArmyTimes:

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.

However, to ensure current plans by the Washington ‘leaders’ who have been caught wrong-footed in their massive greed campaign the federal government does not want to encourage anybody in the ‘greatest democracy in the world’ to presume that they have the right and freedom of collective demonstration; again, rules and laws change when it suits the agenda of the rich.

In his article “Army deploys combat unit in US for possible civil unrest” by Bill Van Auken  suggests that:

Under conditions of deepening economic crisis, the unprecedented social chasm separating the country’s working people from the obscenely wealthy financial elite becomes unsustainable within the existing political framework.  world socialist web site

In a desire to protest the continued undemocratic actions of Federal leaders who lack any kind of social sensitivity that does not come from the muzzle of a gun, ordinary people will, undoubtedly, express their opposition to proposed use of tax revenues to pay for the loss of, at least, $700 billion

Voices will sound their disapproval; quite possibly they will say NO! to their governments plans to further rip-them-off more of their tax money, this time to protect the avaricious wealthy than to attend to the immediate consideration of the poorest of the poor who not only have never owned stocks, but could never afford to own their own home.

Whose tax dollars are being considered for use to bail out the wealthy investors? Those of the wealthy?  Hardly. Taxation dollars which will evaporate the quickest will be those which, in part pay for services such as  medical assistance, education, or seniors care, and any pretence of democratic government which is steadily being beaten into  history.

If this so-called act  of  ‘enlightenment’ of using tax dollars to bail out the bankers is allowed to happen without a unified  grass-roots voice of protest surely it would translates into even lower standards of quality of life quantified  as “massive poverty” for the middle class and further impoverishment for those already poor.

And it must not be forgotten, that this is not an Iraqi village where this scam is being enacted, the  money for Iraq has already been lost, swallowed up, by American managed  companies. The losers this time, however, are the ordinary taxpayers of America.

And yet as we all wonder what the best strategy is for this current massive implosion of US society the perpetrators are rapidly getting their back-up system into position, nothing financial this time, but brute force, the potentially deadly taser gun.

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities… ArmyTimes

However, the civil authorities have performed appropriate ‘tests’  with the taser gun it seems, on a 230 pound man!

“I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered,” said Cloutier, describing the experience as “your worst muscle cramp ever — times 10 throughout your whole body.

“I’m not a small guy, I weigh 230 pounds … it put me on my knees in seconds.” ArmyTimes

Those who demonstrate face new risks through being tasered, by military who are expertly brainwashed to believe the lies the political/corporate elite feeds us all to trade our agreement to illegal use of public tax revenue through silence to the crime in exchange for the very lives of  Americans should they choose not to protest. But they will protest I would suggest regardless of:

The brutalizing effect and intent of such a macabre training exercise is to inure[*] troops against sympathy for the pain and suffering they may be called upon to inflict on the civilian population using these same “non-lethal” weapons. world socialist web site

— end

*Reference Roget’s International Thesaurus. Inure: callous or insensitive; or, accustom

First published in NowPublic by peter.reardon | September 26, 2008 at 12:43 am

Georgian invasion orchestrated by US Gov’t. advisors? To what future advantage?

While the article by Barry Grey is rich in detail it is also indicative of the mischief, for example, death of innocent civilians, destruction of  property, fear of neighbours, or even global insecurity, the  Bush administration wishes to cause before it leaves office later this year.

“There is undoubtedly a domestic political component to the US-backed provocation against Russia as well. The Bush administration and the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, want the November elections to take place under conditions of immense international crisis. They calculate that an environment of fear and insecurity will strengthen McCain’s chances, since a major prop of his campaign is his supposed foreign policy experience and national security expertise”.

Source : WSWS by peter.reardon

Laser Dazzler, son of Taser: A blinding success.

“The laser dazzlers fall into the same category as Tasers, as they are untested and could harm innocent people.”

Source: Anthony Salloum, Programme Director of the Rideau Institute quoted in the Ottawa Citizen December 23, 20007

But what are “laser dazzlers”? In a briefing paper published by the Rideau Institute the authors suggested that:Canada is planning to purchase “laser dazzlers” for deployment in Afghanistan. ‘Military.com’ defines these dazzlers as:

“devices capable of creating, bright pulses of coherent light, meant to render someone sightless, temporarily“.

Source: ‘Laser Weapons’ and Canada’s International Legal Obligations November 19, 2007

Canada will not be the first to purchase these inhumane weapons, it is reported that American forces are already using them:

Last year, the Pentagon acknowledged its troops in Iraq were using dazzler devices on their rifles. A Pentagon official said the systems were designed to cut down on the number of shooting of Iraqis at checkpoints. Source Ottawa Citizen December 23, 2007

Unfortunately the available information on whether or not the Harper government has already purchased laser dazzlers is unclear. On one-hand we are told:

The Harper government has bought new weapons known as laser dazzlers to deploy in Afghanistan. These are weapons that may inadvertently blind innocent civilians – permanently!

Source: ceasefire.ca

On the other-hand, a spokesman for The Department of National Defence said:

The Department …always considers ways to protect our Forces and reduce the potential of causing unintended harm to civilians,” spokesman Maj. Norbert Cyr stated last week. He noted while the military is aware of such technology it does not currently use the systems. Source: David Pugliese , CanWest News Service, Published: Monday, November 19, 2007

One has to wonder how many more servicemen and women will return home from Afghanistan and Iraq to Canada with neurological diseases through handling these weapons.

One might also consider how much greater will be the name of Canada as a callous invading puppet of the Bush government while, at the same time the government is wrecking its once proud image as an international peacemaker by its additional aggressive strategy of likely causing irreparable damage to the sight of civilians with untested weapons.

Tag: Afghanistan, blind, Blindness, innocent civilians, laser dazzlers, LASERS, neurological disease, Ottawa Citizen, Politics, The Defence Department, The Geneva Convention, The Rideau Institute, think-tank, World

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First published in NowPublic by peter.reardon | January 16, 2008

©2008.Peter Reardon, Victoria, Canada.