The Ontario Liberal Government has wasted no time putting forward its legislation based on the Changing Workplaces Review report released on May 30. It comes in the form of a single piece of legislation called Bill 148: Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.
'Case 1000, or the so-called “gifts affair”, involves claims that he and his family received valuable gifts from international billionaires … Alleged wealthy benefactors include the Hollywood producer and media magnate Arnon Milchan'
All over Europe the crisis of social democracy is being debated. Given a situation in which several of these traditionally strong parties have almost been wiped out at particular elections or on a permanent basis, this should not surprise anybody. Although the situation is not as dramatic in Norway/Scandinavia, the crisis is discussed also here. After all, during the last two decades, the Norwegian Labour Party has experienced two of its worst elections (2001 and 2017) since the 1920s. Further, it is widely perceived, at least in large parts of the trade union movement, that the Labour Party messed up something, which should have been an easy victory at last year's parliamentary elections, precisely because of circumstances that can easily be interpreted into a crisis scenario.
The fight against privatization is framed by liberals and the right-wing as a clear and unsubstantiated ideological position of the left. And, no matter how much research is presented exposing how privatization of state services and programs costs more and has no positive (but, in many cases negative) impacts on quality of services, the dominant narrative is privatization works. But, at this point, believing that privatization leads to increased efficiency and lower costs is akin to the denial of climate change and thinking vaccines cause Autism. Decades of real life examples, economic analysis, and trial and error policy show that there are so many ways that do not work when it comes to privatization. So, why do people still believe this nonsense?
The fight against privatization is framed by liberals and the right-wing as a clear and unsubstantiated ideological position of the left. And, no matter how much research is presented exposing how privatization of state services and programs costs more and has no positive (but, in many cases negative) impacts on quality of services, the dominant narrative is privatization works. But, at this point, believing that privatization leads to increased efficiency and lower costs is akin to the denial of climate change and thinking vaccines cause Autism. Decades of real life examples, economic analysis, and trial and error policy show that there are so many ways that do not work when it comes to privatization. So, why do people still believe this nonsense?
'Israel faces a possible International Criminal Court war crimes probe over its 2014 assault on Gaza, which killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including over 500 children. For more, we speak with Norman Finkelstein, author of the new book “Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom.” He is the author of many other books, including “The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Human Suffering” and “Knowing Too Much: Why the American Jewish Romance with Israel Is Coming to an End.”'
State propaganda is sophisticated. To a point that we do not even call it 'propaganda' any more. Narratives glorifying soldiers of war, spies, and good cops defending the poor and innocent from external threats are everywhere in Western media. All celebrating the moral individual fighting an immoral other. Or, the take down of a Rogue by a broken state system made up of good people.
Reading my way through 2017 | Roxanne Dubois; State Power Apologists and Propaganda
January 2017 was somewhat of a low point. Living in the wake of Donald Trump's election as the president of the United States had a chilling effect not just on me, but on everything and everyone around me. Reading the news became more depressing than before, and I was uninspired to write—my usual remedy to seasonal blues.
David Chariandy's second novel is set in Scarborough, Ontario in the '90s: a backdrop that turns out to be a brilliant soundtrack for the story of a teenage boy. Raised by a single mother who came from Trinidad, Michael grows up in a large residential complex called The Park. Brother is an impressive story about family, struggle, grief and violence.
