[Very interesting. I'm wondering when the other shoes might start dropping. Those shoes could include evolving employment insurance into a "benefit" too small to actually live on, thus forcing people to take low-wage jobs. Or, it might transform, slowly or quickly, into what right-wingers want--a catch-all payment that replaces free health care, education, and other social services, which can then be privatised and charge fees. Gene McGuckin - ecosocialistsvancouver.org]
In the last week the NDP government has taken a host of welcome steps to deal with the Covid-19 crisis in our province. There are a number of glaring exceptions to this, however, especially including Horgan's conntinuing refusal to actually require social distancing when that policy comes into conflict with the economy. Mining and construction are explicitly exempted from this, having been designated as essential services yesterday by the Solicotor-General.
Photo: Funeral procession for Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Tehran on Jan 6, 2020 (AP photo by Ebrahim Noroozi)
On January 3, 2020, the Trump-led U.S. government carried out the assassinations of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Both men had played key leading roles for years in the war against the right-wing paramilitaries of ISIS.[1]
Our federal election should let us choose a climate justice plan to remedy global climate disruption and growing economic inequality. But, at best, the major parties offer only extremely partial solutions.
If nothing else, nine days in the North Fraser Pretrial Centre taught me quite a few valuable (and in some cases, unexpected) lessons about the realities of short term incarceration in Canada’s prison system. These included the realization that while extremely unpleasant, a short-term internment is not necessarily an awful experience, depending on how you approach it, and that you may encounter significantly more kindness and humanity from fellow inmates than you might otherwise expect.
