NDP Needs to Launch a Culture War

The party can grow by showing it's more in tune with Canadian values.

By Murray Dobbin

TheTyee.ca

18 July 2011

Back in April, 2010, EKOS pollster Frank Graves got into a lot of trouble in the neo-con blogosphere for advising the Liberal Party to "invoke a culture war" on the Harper Conservatives. "I told them that they should invoke a culture war. Cosmopolitanism versus parochialism, secularism versus moralism, Obama versus Palin, tolerance versus racism and homophobia, democracy versus autocracy. If the cranky old men in Alberta don't like it, too bad. Go south and vote for Palin."

It was good advice for the Liberals then and it's good advice today for Jack Layton and the NDP. But whether the temporarily triumphalist NDP has the imagination to take on such a fight remains to be seen. It's a higher risk strategy than the party seems to want to take and the longer they avoid it, the tougher it will be. Social democrats and liberals have become far too timid in the past two decades defending what they stand for and what they built in the post-war period. 

Making a Workers Mural: Celebrating Saskatchewan

Open publication - Free publishing - More doug taylor

Leo Panitch on Rupert Murdoch

The Real News

Charlie Chaplin in Berlin

By Victor Grossman
Berlin Bulletin No. 30
Portside
July 16 2011

Charlie Chaplin in Berlin, like everywhere else, past or present, equals hilarious laughter but means also, for all whose eyes are wide enough, no lack of true drama full of nuances. This was proved again on Friday,
July 15th.

Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin, and German filmmaker Volker Schloendorff arrive for the screening of 'The Great Dictator' staring Charlie Chaplin at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on July 15, 2011. The open-air screening launches the 'Chaplin Complete' festival showing all of Chaplin's films running to August 7, 2011.

Chaplin had visited Berlin in 1931, touring with his new film, "City Lights," and on his way to Adlon Hotel, where he stayed for five days, he was greeted by wildly enthusiastic crowds. But it was a Berlin under the double shadow of the great depression and the menacing growth of the forces led by Hitler.

Hitler and Chaplin, known for their similar little mustaches and born only four days apart, represented in every other respect exact, extreme opposites.

Labour History class this fall

Next Year Country

A class entitled Canadian Labour and Politics will be given at the Seniors' Education Centre, University of Regina this fall.

The class will examine the relationship of contemporary labour to Canadian Politics since WWII. There will be an emphasis on the role of organized labour in constructing the Canadian welfare state and the issues facing labour today. The class will consist of lectures, class discussion and the occasional guest speaker.

It will be taught by Lorne Brown, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of the Regina. The class will meet on Tuesdays 9:30-11:30 am, Sept. 20 to Nov. 15.

The Seniors' Centre will put out a program guide in August  and registration begins the following week. Information can be obtained at www.uregina.ca/cce/seniors or by the Seniors' Education Centre, 585-5816.

Anyone is welcome to take the class regardless of whether you are a senior.

Fee:
$85 Regular
$65 SUG Members

The Complexity of Mandela

By Danny Schechter
Consortium News
July 15, 2011

Nelson Mandela was one of the last century’s great freedom fighters, taking on the evils of white supremacy in South Africa and defying the cold-hearted Realpolitik of Washington. But his triumph meant that the Western media would water down his radicalism and transform him into a less complex figure, writes Danny Schechter from South Africa.

Only days shy of 93, Nelson Mandela is still kicking, inspiring an international day of community service in his name, on his July 18th birthday.

While activists, athletes and entertainers are honoring him by responding to his call for engagement, journalists in the obit departments are quietly combing their archives for footage and tributes that will air when he moves on to the next world. I have already seen a program-length obit that a major network has ready to go.

The Religious Left, Born Again

Progressive activists are finding inspiration in churches, synagogues and mosques.

By Theo Anderson
In These Times
July 4, 2011

For three decades, the religious right has monopolized media coverage of religion in American life. But the big story of the next few decades, spiritually speaking, might be the re-emergence of the religious left as a powerful political force.

What’s going on in Illinois offers solid evidence for that theory. This past spring, the state’s General Assembly considered two controversial bills. One proposed to give courts the authority to seal the criminal records of people who were arrested and then released because the charges were dropped or the defendant was acquitted. As it stood, the records could not be sealed if the person had a prior conviction. Employers almost never hire job seekers with a recent arrest on their record, so the law left large numbers of people unemployable. The other bill proposed the legalization of medical marijuana.

Reflections on the site of rebellion

Rob O'Flanagan
Guelph Mercury
July 15, 2011

"The Women of Batoche"

Walking through the battlefield of the Riel Rebellion a few days ago, legs stiff from cycling against the wind on a gravel road, and trying desperately to quench an unquenchable thirst, I was reduced to insignificance by the soft, eloquent beauty of the Batoche, Saskatchewan area, and saddened by the intense sense of loss and injustice that hangs in the dry air over that historic region.

A kind of Utopian dream was once draped over that small patch of Canada. Looking out into idle fields painstakingly cleared over 125 years ago from the dense brush and forested banks of the South Saskatchewan River, I caught myself thinking that vision is not dead, but simply dormant, waiting for its time. One can always dream.

Tar Sands Come to Saskatchewan!

Oilsands Quest receives approval for 15-year leases for Axe Lake lands

Also read:  Carbon Copy: Preventing Oil Sands Fever in Saskatchewan 

CALGARY, July 15, 2011

Oilsands Quest is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the Government of Saskatchewan to convert portions of the Axe Lake permits to 15-year leases. These leases, the first oil sands leases in Saskatchewan, are one of the key elements the Company needs in place to proceed to development of a commercial oil sands production facility.

"These leases mark a key milestone in our path forward," said Garth Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Oilsands Quest. "In the past, some potential investors have expressed concern about the short term permits under which the Axe Lake lands were held. The 15-year leases will give us the certainty of land tenure we need to underpin commercial development at Axe Lake. The Government of Saskatchewan has demonstrated its commitment to oil sands exploration and development, and we appreciate its confidence that Oilsands Quest will be able to deliver on the value of these assets both for our investors and for the people of Saskatchewan."

The two leases, OSA00001 and 0SA00002 will be governed under the terms of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulations, 1969 and will expire on March 31, 2027.

Please see http://www.oilsandsquest.com/our_projects/july15-2011-map.html to view a map showing Oilsands Quest's land leases and permits.

About Oilsands Quest

Oilsands Quest Inc. (www.oilsandsquest.com) is exploring and developing oil sands permits and licences, located in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and developing Saskatchewan's first commercial oil sands discovery. It is leading the establishment of the province of Saskatchewan's emerging oil sands industry.

Spanish Civil War – 75th anniversary

Next Year Country

July 18 marks the 75^th anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Below is the first part of the BBC documentary "The Origins of the Spanish Civil War."

For information on Canadian internationalists in the Spanish Civil War visit The Friends and Veterans of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.

Union Democracy and Labour Rights: A Cautionary Tale

Brad Walchuk
York University
Global Labour Journal,Vol. 2,Iss. 2

In recent years, trade unions in Canada have become increasingly reliant on constructing workers’ rights as part of the broader rubric of human rights. While the topic of labour rights has become popular in recent academic literature, it remains under explored. An important element of constructing labour rights as human rights is its impact on union democracy and rank-and-file mobilization, though this has yet to be fully explored.

Utilizing the case study of the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) struggle against Bill 29, this paper suggests that a reliance on the construction of labour rights as human rights and the corresponding judicial strategy prevents the development of a from a more radical, grassroots social movement unionism and instead facilitates the proliferation of hierarchical, elite dominated forms trade unionism. It concludes by suggesting that unions must be cautious of the potential downfalls of quelling militant grassroots activism in lieu of a rights-based challenge

Read this article HERE.

The influence of Cuban medical internationalism: "Cooperation - not aid"

Katelynn Northam
Dalhousie University News
July 15, 2011

Cuba is a small island nation perhaps best known among Canadians for being a great vacation destination. It cannot be said to be a rich country – which is perhaps why it’s so surprising that Cuba finds itself exporting more medical assistance to developing countries than all the world’s industrialized countries combined.

John Kirk has been a professor at Dalhousie for 33 years, and currently teaches in the Spanish and Latin American Studies department. He has recently released a book, Cuban Medical Internationalism: Origins, Evolution, and Goals, which he co-authored with H. Michael Erisman of Indiana State University.

The book looks at exactly how and why it came to be that Cuba—a country of eleven million people with a land area comparable to the size of Nova Scotia—has become one of the biggest exporters of doctors and medical care in the world, and a leader in the field of medical internationalism.

Single Desk Good for Potash - Why Not Grain?

Canadian Wheat Board Alliance

You have to admire politicians who set aside long held beliefs when they are confronted with the reality of how the world works. Reality sets in once they arrive in government and are responsible to more than just their supporters. A good couple of cases in point are former Alberta Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed and Saskatchewan’s Premier Brad Wall. Both were elected on strong free enterprise platforms and both confronted the necessity of regulating a defective commodity market to protect a critical resource for their provinces.

Lougheed had the courage to successfully confront a reluctant foreign owned industry and a hostile Federal government. Time will tell if Premier Wall is made of the same stern stuff.

Ten Years Ago Portugal Legalized All Drugs -- What Happened Next?

By Tony O'Neil
The Fix
 July 14, 2011

Drug related deaths fell by 50%

The government in Portugal has no plans to back down. Although the Netherlands is the European country most associated with liberal drug laws, it has already been ten years since Portugal became the first European nation to take the brave step of decriminalizing possession of all drugs within its borders—from marijuana to heroin, and everything in between. This controversial move went into effect in June of 2001, in response to the country’s spiraling HIV/AIDS statistics.

While many critics in the poor and largely conservative country attacked the sea change in drug policy, fearing it would lead to drug tourism while simultaneously worsening the country’s already shockingly high rate of hard drug use, a report published in 2009 by the Cato Institute tells a different story. Glenn Greenwald, the attorney and author who conducted the research, told Time: “Judging by every metric, drug decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success. It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country."

Frederick Engels on the Historical Development of Modern Socialism

By Thomas Riggins
Dissident Voice
July 14th, 2011

Robert Owen's New Lanark

In the first chapter of Part Three of his classic work “Anti-Dühring”, Engels discusses the origins of the modern socialist movement. He begins with the enthronement of “Reason” by the pre-revolutionary 18th century French philosophers who thought that only reason could be used to answer any of the questions of existence.

After the overthrow of Louis XVI and the abolition of the monarchical French state, a new state was constructed by the revolutionaries — one based on “eternal” reason and designed to be completely rational. The spiritual progenitor of this state was Rousseau’s book “The Social Contract”. But “eternal” reason turned out to be simply the explanation of existence from the point of view of the rising bourgeois class. The complexity of the new political reality they had created quite eluded them as the contradictions between their class and the newly conscious masses of the disposed poor of Paris and the countryside began to manifest themselves. The wretched of the earth exerted themselves and the bourgeois rational state fell apart and morphed into the Reign of Terror under which the masses, for a moment, gained “the mastery” and saved the Revolution.

Read more HERE.