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| TOWARDS THE DAWN! [leaflet] Regina: Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Saskatchewan Section, [1938]  |
Friday, February 22, 2013
Meili Retro 3
Biofuel rush wiping out America’s grasslands at fastest pace since the 1930s
Climate Connetions
By Brad Plumer
This map shows the percentage of existing grasslands that were converted into corn or soybean fields between 2006 and 2011. Photo: Washington Post
America’s prairies are shrinking. Spurred on by the rush for biofuels, farmers are digging up grasslands in the northern Plains to plant crops at the quickest pace since the 1930s. While that’s been a boon for farmers, the upheaval could create unexpected problems.
A new study by Christopher Wright and Michael Wimberly of South Dakota State University finds that U.S. farmers converted more than 1.3 million acres of grassland into corn and soybean fields between 2006 and 2011, driven by high crop prices and biofuel mandates (right). In states like Iowa and South Dakota, some 5 percent of pasture is turning into cropland each year.
February 21, 2013
Note: Rather than algae or cellulosic biofuels, as the author suggests, which will create just another grab for land to produce cellulose for bioenergy, we must challenge and ultimately dismantle the systems which give rise to the exorbitant consumption of energy. Without addressing the drivers of energy and resource consumption, social and ecological devastation will only continue to accelerate.
–The GJEP Team
Note: Rather than algae or cellulosic biofuels, as the author suggests, which will create just another grab for land to produce cellulose for bioenergy, we must challenge and ultimately dismantle the systems which give rise to the exorbitant consumption of energy. Without addressing the drivers of energy and resource consumption, social and ecological devastation will only continue to accelerate.
–The GJEP Team
By Brad Plumer
February 20, 2013
Source: The Washington Post
This map shows the percentage of existing grasslands that were converted into corn or soybean fields between 2006 and 2011. Photo: Washington Post
America’s prairies are shrinking. Spurred on by the rush for biofuels, farmers are digging up grasslands in the northern Plains to plant crops at the quickest pace since the 1930s. While that’s been a boon for farmers, the upheaval could create unexpected problems.
A new study by Christopher Wright and Michael Wimberly of South Dakota State University finds that U.S. farmers converted more than 1.3 million acres of grassland into corn and soybean fields between 2006 and 2011, driven by high crop prices and biofuel mandates (right). In states like Iowa and South Dakota, some 5 percent of pasture is turning into cropland each year.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Meili Retro
NYC
For us historically minded, why this image has "Meili Retro!" on it...
SaskPharm Article
SaskOil Article
For us historically minded, why this image has "Meili Retro!" on it...
SaskPharm Article
SaskOil Article
Historic Two Day Strike Paralyses India
By Countercurrents.org
20 February, 2013
Workers began a two day strike in India to protest rising prices and government policies to open up the economy. Millions of factory and bank employees stayed away from work and public transport was shut down in most big cities after major trade unions called the countrywide strike. It is the first time since the Independent struggle that India witnesses two consecutive days of strikes.
A labour leader was fatally crushed when he tried to stop buses from leaving a terminal in Ambala, Haryana.
Workers armed with iron rods smashed factory windows and set a fire truck and several cars on fire in Noida.
Trade unions oppose government policies to open the retail, banking and aviation sectors to foreign investors in an effort to jumpstart India's sputtering economy.
20 February, 2013
Workers began a two day strike in India to protest rising prices and government policies to open up the economy. Millions of factory and bank employees stayed away from work and public transport was shut down in most big cities after major trade unions called the countrywide strike. It is the first time since the Independent struggle that India witnesses two consecutive days of strikes.
A labour leader was fatally crushed when he tried to stop buses from leaving a terminal in Ambala, Haryana.
Workers armed with iron rods smashed factory windows and set a fire truck and several cars on fire in Noida.
Trade unions oppose government policies to open the retail, banking and aviation sectors to foreign investors in an effort to jumpstart India's sputtering economy.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
SaskPharm: a proposal for provincial drug production
By Ryan Meili
CMAJ Journal
July 11, 2011
Recent months have seen a renewed call to attenuate the runaway costs in the least controlled segment of the health care system: prescription drugs. In 2009, Canadians spent $30 billion1 on pharmaceuticals.
There has been much discussion of how we should pay for prescriptions: individually, both out-of-pocket and through insurance plans, or collectively through taxation. An oft-neglected, related issue is the question of who makes the medications. Many are available in generic forms, produced at a fraction of what it cost the original manufacturers. Generic companies then sell the medications at a relative fraction of the discount, which is to say that the profit margin on generic drugs is very high.
Leaving aside for a moment who will pay for medications, what if governments made them?
In Saskatchewan, as in many provinces in Canada, there is a long history of successful Crown corporations. They effectively and profitably provide essential services such as vehicle insurance, telephone services and electricity, and sport provincially patriotic names like SaskTel or SaskPower. Consider for a moment a hypothetical Crown corporation that produces generic drugs: SaskPharm.
July 11, 2011
Recent months have seen a renewed call to attenuate the runaway costs in the least controlled segment of the health care system: prescription drugs. In 2009, Canadians spent $30 billion1 on pharmaceuticals.
There has been much discussion of how we should pay for prescriptions: individually, both out-of-pocket and through insurance plans, or collectively through taxation. An oft-neglected, related issue is the question of who makes the medications. Many are available in generic forms, produced at a fraction of what it cost the original manufacturers. Generic companies then sell the medications at a relative fraction of the discount, which is to say that the profit margin on generic drugs is very high.
Leaving aside for a moment who will pay for medications, what if governments made them?
In Saskatchewan, as in many provinces in Canada, there is a long history of successful Crown corporations. They effectively and profitably provide essential services such as vehicle insurance, telephone services and electricity, and sport provincially patriotic names like SaskTel or SaskPower. Consider for a moment a hypothetical Crown corporation that produces generic drugs: SaskPharm.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The Saskatchewan NDP chooses a new leader
BY JOHN W. WARNOCK
The Saskatchewan NDP will meet in Saskatoon on March 9 to select a new leader. They are in dire straits.
Lorne Calvert's NDP government was defeated in the election in 2007 and received only 37 per cent of the vote. Under Dwaine Lingenfelter they were defeated in the 2011 election and received only 32 per cent of the vote. With the disappearance of the provincial Liberal Party, they now have to win close to 50 per cent of the votes to form a government.
Support for the party has dropped dramatically since Roy Romanow's NDP government moved steadily to the right to embrace the neoliberal agenda. Membership has fallen from 47,000 in 1991 to 11,000 in 2013. The vote for the NDP has fallen from 275,000 in 1991 to only 127,000 in 2011. In addition, the total vote in provincial elections has fallen from 540,000 in 1991 to 396,000 in 2011. The drop in vote has been greatest in the safest NDP ridings.
FEBRUARY 19, 2013
The Saskatchewan NDP will meet in Saskatoon on March 9 to select a new leader. They are in dire straits.
Lorne Calvert's NDP government was defeated in the election in 2007 and received only 37 per cent of the vote. Under Dwaine Lingenfelter they were defeated in the 2011 election and received only 32 per cent of the vote. With the disappearance of the provincial Liberal Party, they now have to win close to 50 per cent of the votes to form a government.
Support for the party has dropped dramatically since Roy Romanow's NDP government moved steadily to the right to embrace the neoliberal agenda. Membership has fallen from 47,000 in 1991 to 11,000 in 2013. The vote for the NDP has fallen from 275,000 in 1991 to only 127,000 in 2011. In addition, the total vote in provincial elections has fallen from 540,000 in 1991 to 396,000 in 2011. The drop in vote has been greatest in the safest NDP ridings.
The Resurrection of Norman Bethune
Of Patriots, physicians and political poltroons...
By Bill Annett
Dissident Voice
February 19th, 2013
And even madmen manage to convey
Unwelcome truths in lonely gibberish.
— W.H. Auden
Norman Bethune was born into a Scottish-Canadian family in the small Ontario town of Gravenhurst, his forebears largely medical practitioners and/or Presbyterians. He attended the University of Toronto, eventually earning a degree in medicine, practised medicine in Montreal, and was apparently a highly innovative physician, since his design of the Bethune Shears for chopping open the rib cage is still used today, 75 years later. That’s the good part, viewed from a contemporary Conservative – or conservative – point of view.
However, interspersed with that classic Canadiana, he (1) interrupted his studies to be a stretcher-bearer – shrapnel-wounded – in the War to end all wars, (2) joined the Communist Party of Canada in 1935, (3) took part in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, along with other good-guy Communists like Ernest Hemingway and the English poets of the time, where he (4) devised a revolutionary system for supplying blood transfusion close to the front, thereby saving many lives, (5) in 1938 he joined Mao-Zedong’s (or whatever the current spelling is) Army contra both the Japanese invaders and the Chiang Kai-shek capitalists and, as a result, (6) he became a Chinese super-hero, patron saint and revolutionary icon. The greatest living Canadian example of a prophet who (because he was largely ignored back home) was not without honor, save in his own country. He died, almost unnecessarily, from an accidental scalpel cut on his finger during battlefield surgery, and the ensuing blood poison, occurring in less than clinical conditions. To say that he was buried in China with full military honors would be a gross understatement. He is enshrined in that country with all the national pomp, ceremony and prestige normally reserved for warlords, emperors, ancient dynasty members and contemporary members of the Politburo.
By Bill Annett
Dissident Voice
February 19th, 2013
And even madmen manage to convey
Unwelcome truths in lonely gibberish.
— W.H. Auden
Norman Bethune was born into a Scottish-Canadian family in the small Ontario town of Gravenhurst, his forebears largely medical practitioners and/or Presbyterians. He attended the University of Toronto, eventually earning a degree in medicine, practised medicine in Montreal, and was apparently a highly innovative physician, since his design of the Bethune Shears for chopping open the rib cage is still used today, 75 years later. That’s the good part, viewed from a contemporary Conservative – or conservative – point of view.
However, interspersed with that classic Canadiana, he (1) interrupted his studies to be a stretcher-bearer – shrapnel-wounded – in the War to end all wars, (2) joined the Communist Party of Canada in 1935, (3) took part in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, along with other good-guy Communists like Ernest Hemingway and the English poets of the time, where he (4) devised a revolutionary system for supplying blood transfusion close to the front, thereby saving many lives, (5) in 1938 he joined Mao-Zedong’s (or whatever the current spelling is) Army contra both the Japanese invaders and the Chiang Kai-shek capitalists and, as a result, (6) he became a Chinese super-hero, patron saint and revolutionary icon. The greatest living Canadian example of a prophet who (because he was largely ignored back home) was not without honor, save in his own country. He died, almost unnecessarily, from an accidental scalpel cut on his finger during battlefield surgery, and the ensuing blood poison, occurring in less than clinical conditions. To say that he was buried in China with full military honors would be a gross understatement. He is enshrined in that country with all the national pomp, ceremony and prestige normally reserved for warlords, emperors, ancient dynasty members and contemporary members of the Politburo.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Saskatchewan’s Anti-Poverty Plan, From Dependence to Independence: Does It Measure Up?
Paul Gingrich and Brian Banks
CCPA
Saskatchewan Office
ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
In the summer of 2012, the Saskatchewan government published its anti-poverty strategy, From Dependence to Independence, claiming that no previous administration in the province had approached the challenge of poverty “with a comparable commitment to holistic, cross-government solutions.” A new report from the Saskatchewan Office of the CCPA assesses the claims of the government’s strategy, critically comparing Saskatchewan’s anti-poverty plan to that of other provincial programs to reduce poverty. Saskatchewan’s Anti-Poverty Plan, From Dependence to Independence: Does It Measure Up? by Brian Banks and Paul Gingrich demonstrates several serious shortcomings within the government's anti-poverty strategy arguing that the government has not committed to the development of a comprehensive and integrated plan even though it claims to have done so.
In the summer of 2012, the Saskatchewan government published its anti-poverty strategy, From Dependence to Independence, claiming that no previous administration in the province had approached the challenge of poverty “with a comparable commitment to holistic, cross-government solutions.” A new report from the Saskatchewan Office of the CCPA assesses the claims of the government’s strategy, critically comparing Saskatchewan’s anti-poverty plan to that of other provincial programs to reduce poverty. Saskatchewan’s Anti-Poverty Plan, From Dependence to Independence: Does It Measure Up? by Brian Banks and Paul Gingrich demonstrates several serious shortcomings within the government's anti-poverty strategy arguing that the government has not committed to the development of a comprehensive and integrated plan even though it claims to have done so.
Download this publication HERE.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The City of Regina’s Unquenchable Thirst for Bad Ideas
Saskatchewan Office CCPA
February 13th, 2013
It seems the City of Regina just can’t get enough of bad deals. Hot on the heels of the City Plaza debacle and the stadium funding mess, the City has now announced its intention to enter into a 30-year contract with a private corporation to upgrade its waste water treatment facilities. Just as the City seems immune to the evidence that sports stadiums are a poor use of taxpayer money it seems equally oblivious to the mountain of evidence that essential public infrastructure should remain in public hands. In the case of contracting out wastewater treatment, the record is anything but reassuring.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Bill C-377 and the year ahead for the labour movement
By Dave Coles
January 4, 2013
In late December, the Conservative majority in the House of Commons passed Bill C-377, an Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (requirements for labour organizations), which was designed to challenge unions' involvement in political activities and divert their resources to busy work.
Like so many other actions on the part of the Harper government, Bill C-377 will inevitably turn out to be a purely political and ideological attack on his opponents. Its adoption fits right in with funding cuts to the women's, environmental and international development groups of the past few years.
If passed by the Senate and if the courts don't strike it down, Bill C-377 will require every trade union to file a public information return with the Canada Revenue Agency on expenditures over $5,000. It also mandates that labour organizations detail the percentage of time employees dedicate to political and lobbying activities.
In late December, the Conservative majority in the House of Commons passed Bill C-377, an Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (requirements for labour organizations), which was designed to challenge unions' involvement in political activities and divert their resources to busy work.
Like so many other actions on the part of the Harper government, Bill C-377 will inevitably turn out to be a purely political and ideological attack on his opponents. Its adoption fits right in with funding cuts to the women's, environmental and international development groups of the past few years.
If passed by the Senate and if the courts don't strike it down, Bill C-377 will require every trade union to file a public information return with the Canada Revenue Agency on expenditures over $5,000. It also mandates that labour organizations detail the percentage of time employees dedicate to political and lobbying activities.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Latin America's Turbulent Transitions: The Future of Twenty-First Century Socialism
Zed Books
Over the past few years, something remarkable has occurred in Latin America. For the first time since the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua in the 1980s, people within the region have turned toward radical left governments - specifically in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Why has this profound shift taken place and how does this new, so-called Twenty-First-Century Socialism actually manifest itself? What are we to make of the often fraught relationship between the social movements and governments in these countries and do, in fact, the latter even qualify as 'socialist' in reality?
These are the bold and critical questions that Latin America's Turbulent Transitions explores. The authors provocatively argue that although US hegemony in the region is on the wane, the traditional socialist project is also declining and something new is emerging. Going beyond simple conceptions of 'the left,' the book reveals the true underpinnings of this powerful, transformative, and yet also complicated and contradictory process.
Read more HERE.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Making Sense Out of the Current Economic Crisis
By John W. Warnock
For several months now the mainstream media, political leaders and business commentators have focused on the “Fiscal Cliff” in the United States. President Barrack Obama and the Republicans in the U.S. Congress have been at loggerheads over how to deal with the very large federal budget deficits of the past five years. Another interim agreement was reached last night, and the stock markets have responded positively.
But it is easy to discover that nothing has really changed. The U.S. politicians have bought two months of peace; by the end of February they will once again have to face the reality of the enormous budget deficit and the fact that the United States Congress has legislated an upper limit to the debt that the federal government may undertake. The debt ceiling of $16.4 trillion was reached on New Year’s eve.
How can we make sense out of this economic and financial mess? It is difficult in that mainstream economists are committed to abstract models of the free market, focus on the current situation, and ignore the patterns of history. The mass media, owned and controlled by very large corporations, reflects this free market political perspective.
Act Up in Sask.
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
Wednesday, 02 January 2013
For several months now the mainstream media, political leaders and business commentators have focused on the “Fiscal Cliff” in the United States. President Barrack Obama and the Republicans in the U.S. Congress have been at loggerheads over how to deal with the very large federal budget deficits of the past five years. Another interim agreement was reached last night, and the stock markets have responded positively.
But it is easy to discover that nothing has really changed. The U.S. politicians have bought two months of peace; by the end of February they will once again have to face the reality of the enormous budget deficit and the fact that the United States Congress has legislated an upper limit to the debt that the federal government may undertake. The debt ceiling of $16.4 trillion was reached on New Year’s eve.
How can we make sense out of this economic and financial mess? It is difficult in that mainstream economists are committed to abstract models of the free market, focus on the current situation, and ignore the patterns of history. The mass media, owned and controlled by very large corporations, reflects this free market political perspective.
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