Ukraine Update: Oligarchic local elections and US media censorship

Dmitriy Kovalevich’s update on the local elections in Ukraine and US embassy pressure to impose media censorship in Ukraine. “The bill on media, which the U.S. embassy is promoting, should make it easier to block unwanted websites and TV channels.”
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This Day. The 1980 H-Block hunger strike in Belfast

Irish political prisoners confined in the infamous H-Blocks of Long Kesh commenced a hunger strike on October 27, 1980, 40 years ago this week.

The hunger strike was to continue until their demands for political status and for an end to British torture were met, or until death.

Ten-point summary to understand the brutal tightening of the US blockade against Cuba

Cuban report to the United Nations indicates that damages caused by this aggressive policy exceeded five billion dollars, between April 2019 and March 2020 | Yisell Rodríguez Milán

Havana, Cuba | Granma photo

(October 26 ) – Our economy destroyed and our people divided. This is the objective of the U.S. government, which went to great lengths in 2019 and 2020 to exhaust and besiege Cuba.

Totally disregarding the impact of COVID-19, the White House stepped up its attacks… and limited, hindered, threatened, persecuted or sanctioned all those who aspired to do business with the island, intimidating and questioning even those who dared to think of Cuba’s Henry Reeve international medical contingent as a solution as their people faced a pandemic that strained health systems around the world.

But Cuba is Cuba.

Canadian airlines resume operations to Cuba

The Air Transat Canadian airline will resume its operations to Cuba on November 3 starting with the Holguin destination, an eastern province of Cuba.

On the Transat tour operator website, travellers can already make reservations for flights, with weekly departures from Montreal and Toronto.

Webinar: Canada-Cuba relations in a Time of Trump and COVID-19

Thursday, October 29 — 4:00 pm Pacific Time |
7:00 pm Eastern Time | 8:00 pm Atlantic Time | 11:00 pm UK
Register on Zoom here.
Organized by the Canadian Network on Cuba
Visit online: canadiannetworkoncuba.ca
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This Day. Anniversary of the National Hunger March in Britain

The present in Britain: food poverty amongst the unemployed and low paid

Hunger marchers at Hyde Park, London, 1932

October, 2020 marks the 88th anniversary of the National Hunger March of September-October 1932. It was the largest of a series of hunger marches in Britain during the great depression.

All Eyes on Mi’kma’ki — Week of Actions October 19-24

Stand with Mi’kmaq People in Defence of Their Hereditary and Treaty Fishing Rights

Halifax rally, October 18, 2020 in support of hereditary and treaty rights of Mi’kmaq people.

Idle No More has called a National Week of Action in support of the Mi’kmaq peoples’ right to fish on their unceded territories. Their callout points out that “The inaction of the federal and provincial government and the RCMP to protect Mi’kmaq people is a violation of Indigenous inherent rights, Treaty rights, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. This is not reconciliation.”

November 1 Day of Action in Defence of Migrant Rights

Raise the Call: Status for All!

Migrante and la Association de Mexicanos en Calgary visit an Alberta farm on Thanksgiving, share a meal, games and karaoke before the migrant workers return home for the season.

The Migrant Rights Network has called for a national day of action on Sunday, November 1 to once again raise the call for Status for All! 

The Green Face of BlackRock

Discussion on the Direction of the Economy | PETER EWART

“The Great Reset”

At a time when youth, workers and people all over the globe have deep concerns about climate change, the environment, and the political and economic system itself, influential factions of the global financial oligarchy are calling for a “Great Reset” of the financial system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; or to put it another way a “better” or “repurposed” capitalism, one which can supposedly ensure its preservation. Such calls for a “systemic change” and a return to “stakeholder capitalism,” especially in regards to climate change, are coming from various organizations of the North American and European oligarchies including the World Economic Forum,[1][2] U.S. Business Roundtable,[3] Climate Action 100+,[4] and other oligarchic bodies.

Irish trial of anti-war activists: VERDICT NOT GUILTY

Press Release

(October 23) – At Dublin Circuit Court today a jury of twelve Irish citizens acquitted peace activists Colm Roddy and Dave Donnellan of the charge of alleged criminal damage at Shannon airport over four and a half years ago.

This Day. The CIA and Chile: Anatomy of an Assassination

General René Schneider official portrait

(October 22, 2020) – On October 23, 1970, one day after armed thugs intercepted and mortally wounded the Chilean army commander-in-chief, General Rene Schneider, as he drove to work in Santiago, CIA Director Richard Helms convened his top aides to review the covert coup operations that had led to the attack. “[I]t was agreed that … a maximum effort has been achieved,” and that “the station has done excellent job of guiding Chileans to point today where a military solution is at least an option for them,” stated a Secret cable of commendation transmitted that day to the CIA station in Chile. “COS [Chief of Station] … and Station [deleted] are commended for accomplishing this under extremely difficult and delicate circumstances.”

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (VI) – Film Les Ordres by Michel Brault (1974)

Sixth in a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Image from the film Les Ordres

Michel Brault’s film Les Ordres (The Orders) was made four years after the events triggered by the proclamation of the War Measures Act in October 1970. The film focuses on the repercussions of the War Measures Act, and more precisely on the resulting arbitrary arrests. At the time of the making of the film, the frustration among the people arising from the events of October 1970 was still palpable as a result of the flagrant violation of the individual freedoms of citizens. The film deals with this legislation and the reaction of the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau to trample the rights and freedoms of citizens in the name of public safety. The message conveyed by Michel Brault is clear. He explains that he “didn’t want to make a film about the October Crisis, but rather about humiliation.”

To view the film click here. 

For a trailer of the movie Les Ordres with English subtitles, click here.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (V) – Courageous resistance to military occupation and attempt to isolate Quebec

Fifth in a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

University of Calgary students hold a large rally on campus on October 27, 1970 to denounce the War Measures Act. After the rally, 300 students march angrily to downtown Calgary. Some 1,000 students in Regina organize similar actions.

By Christine Dandenault

When the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau enacted the War Measures Act on October 16, 1970 and the army was deployed in the streets of Ottawa and Montreal before that and arrests began, opposition and resistance was immediate across the country. Students and youth, intellectuals, working people and other collectives in their thousands protested all across the country. The following account is taken from newspapers published by the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and its affiliated organizations at the time the events were taking place.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (IV) – Honour to those unjustly imprisoned during the 1970 ‘October Crisis’

Fourth in a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Rally of 1,500 in Vancouver, October 19, 1970, one of many actions across the country supporting the Quebec people’s struggle and opposing imposition of the War Measures Act.

Youth fill Paul Sauvé Arena in Montreal in support of Quebec national liberation on the eve of the declaration of the War Measures Act in October 1970. A number of the youth in attendance are among those arrested in the raids which follow the Act being invoked.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (III) – State-sanctioned Black Ops and cover-ups

Third of a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Police attack demonstration led by CPC(M-L) activists outside the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, March 3, 1971. The demonstration supports the Quebec people and opposes the attacks launched on them by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s government.

By Anna Di Carlo

There are many official as well as media accounts of crimes committed against Canadians, Quebeckers and Indigenous peoples by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Some of the crimes are left out of the accounts altogether; others are said to be unacceptable aberrations or necessary despite the violations of rights. All in all, it is said that such crimes belong to the past or even that they have contributed to strengthening our democracy. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was created in 1984 to, allegedly, “collect intelligence but not pass to action” and thus we were to believe that the days of the dirty deeds of the RCMP were over. Of course, it is not true that after 1984 the security services stopped violating the rights of the people. These include cover-up of their involvement in the 1985 Air India disaster. Since 9/11, every manner of excuse has been given to violate rights with impunity. Bill C-51, the Anti-Terrorism Act 2015 extends powers to CSIS to allow it to conduct activities that resemble those of the RCMP prior to 1984.

This article provides a brief review of the official story and what the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) had to say about this at the time the events were taking place. The aim of the review is to sum up this experience so that people can provide themselves with a suitable guide to action which serves the present and opens a path to a safe and bright future.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (II) – Police power above the civil power: The true nature of Canadian democracy

Second of a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Demonstration outside Tanguay prison in Montreal, January 1971, calls for the release of political prisoners detained under the War Measures Act.

Media disinformation about the invocation of the War Measures Act in 1970 tends to focus only on some events which were taking place in October 1970 and discussion on whether or not Pierre Elliot Trudeau over-reacted or if there truly was a state of apprehended insurrection at the time. Information brought to light in 2010 about the RCMP’s secret plans, first devised in 1950, for indefinite detention and internment of thousands of Canadians, code-named PROFUNC (PROminent FUNCtionaries of the Communist Party), was used, amongst other things, to suggest that the phenomenon of the police being above the civil power was a thing of the past.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (I) – The significance of the proclamation of War Measures

Demonstration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 1970 opposing the invoking of the War Measures Act.

First of a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

The Significance of the Proclamation of War Measures

By Pauline Easton

Army deployed on the streets of Montreal October 15, 1970, the day before the War Measures Act is invoked.

October 16, 2020 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the proclamation of the War Measures Act by the Liberal government headed by Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Trudeau declared a state of “apprehended insurrection” in order to use the powers of the War Measures Act, which had been used in World War I and World War II to indefinitely detain people without charges or trial.

The police carried out more than 1,000 raids between October 7 and 10, 1970. Using the provisions of the National Defence Act, the army appeared on the streets of Ottawa on October 12 and on the streets of Montreal on October 15. After the War Measures Act was invoked, the police carried out another 3,068 raids and searches without warrants. During these raids police arrested 465 people and held them without charges. The vast majority of the people arrested were released after 21 days without charges while others were held for longer periods.

The US of A(rms)

The United States dominates the global arms trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the Middle East | WILLIAM D. HARTUNG

Infrastructure of US bases in the Middle East | David Vine

The United States has the dubious distinction of being the world’s leading arms dealer. It dominates the global trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the endlessly war-torn Middle East. There, believe it or not, the U.S. controls nearly half the arms market. From Yemen to Libya to Egypt, sales by this country and its allies are playing a significant role in fuelling some of the world’s most devastating conflicts. But Donald Trump, even before he was felled by Covid-19 and sent to Walter Reed Medical Center, could not have cared less, as long as he thought such trafficking in the tools of death and destruction would help his political prospects.

Military cries ‘wolf’ in Nova Scotia

By Scott Taylor

(October 19 ) – Last week there was a bizarre little story in the Ottawa Citizen that at first glance appeared to be so ridiculous that it had to be satire.

Reporter David Pugliese revealed that a letter from the Nova Scotia government sent out to residents in Annapolis Valley to warn about a pack of wolves on the loose in the province was forged by Canadian military personnel as part of a propaganda training mission that went off the rails.

This Day. The death of Serena Shim, journalist

Serena Shim, an American citizen of Lebanese origin, remembered six years after her suspicious death near Turkey. Much of the monopoly media and Chrystia Freeland’s self-styled Media Freedom Coalition consisting of 21 NATO countries have forgotten that crime, but Press TV still wages an unrelenting campaign on behalf of its former journalist. This can also be compared to the cause célèbre of the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist and former Saudi intelligence agent, also in Turkey. While this “media freedom” coalition and the Washington Post do not seem bothered by the Saudi regime’s crimes against people in Syria or Yemen or even inside Saudi Arabia, they were offended that Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman dared to kill a person employed by an American newspaper. All other journalists killed in conflict from Ukraine to Palestine are deemed propagandists and disposable, according to the official rationale set by NATO in 1999 to justify the bombing of Serbian TV stations during the war on Yugoslavia.

By Press TV 

(October 18) – Six years after her suspicious death, Press TV reporter Serena Shim is remembered as one of the first journalists to have exposed the involvement of the US-led Western countries and their regional allies in igniting the foreign-sponsored terrorism in Syria, a daring act of investigative journalism for which she paid with her life.

The significance of analyzing unfolding events: The battle over the US presidency

A penetratig analysis of the unfolding events in the United States, based on a discussion held at a recent meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) with leading party cadre from Quebec, its Workers’ Centre and party youth. The conflicts in that country are mirrored by the conflicts of interest raging in Canada itself, including the palace coup which is unfolding before our eyes.

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The first debate in the current U.S. presidential election took place on September 30. These debates set the agenda of what are said to be “the issues” in the election. They play a role in revealing which of the candidates can emerge as a champion for what the financial oligarchy wants the next president to achieve on its behalf. The topics which were supposed to be addressed were the Supreme Court, economy, racial justice, climate change, handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and election integrity.

However, with the dismantling of all institutions related to what was called a public authority and civil power, even the existence of a polity which has standards, political culture and norms is no longer recognized. The debate was a mud-slinging shouting match such that even the media described it as a mess and a disaster. Name-calling by both candidates clearly revealed that political parties worthy of the name no longer exist. They have been replaced with individual acts of hooliganism, defamation, idiocy, ignorance and irrationality. The very notion of politics as a link to a body politic has been so undermined that the United States is no longer capable of holding a presidential debate of any stature.

The only thing Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s candidate for the presidency, was passionate about was defending his son who served in Iraq, saying he resented Trump’s comments that those who have died were losers and suckers. Trump responded by attacking Biden’s other son and thus they reduced themselves to openly enacting the stereotype of mafia relations: no politics, no civility, no solutions; just a turf war. Even the expectation that they would address their preoccupation with “the end of America as we know it” was betrayed as, instead, they enacted “the end of America as we know it.”

Meanwhile, open talk that a disputed election could open the way for a military takeover in the name of defending democracy carries on. Responses to the threats of U.S. President Donald Trump to either postpone the presidential election or refuse to accept its results if they do not favour him are a call for military action. The situation is so tense that postings calling on the people to take up arms are not unusual. Indeed many felt Trump’s call to the state-backed racist, Hitlerite group “Proud Boys” to “stand back and stand by,” was just that. The “Proud Boys” themselves responded by saying they stand ready.

Recently the Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, Michael R. Caputo, accused scientists at the Centers for Disease Control of engaging in “sedition” and/or harbouring a “resistance unit” determined to undermine the President. In a live conversation on his Facebook page he said he had received death threats and that “leftist groups” were preparing for armed conflict after the presidential election. Referring to when Trump insists on a second term, he said: “If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s going to be hard to get.”

The government’s common reference to demonstrators as “anarchist mobs,” “violent rioters” and “terrorists” along with the talk of “sedition” are laying the ground for declaring the protest movement of the peoples across the United States an insurrection.

Other responses take the form of calls to defend the Constitution which does not permit a president to set election dates and is also supposed to defend the right to speak, protest and assemble. The Bill of Rights together with the Civil War-era Posse Comitatus Act are supposed to block the use of the military against the American people – except in times of insurrection. The government’s common reference to demonstrators as “anarchist mobs,” “violent rioters” and “terrorists” along with the talk of “sedition” are laying the ground for declaring the protest movement of the peoples across the United States an insurrection. Already, military police have been used against demonstrators in Washington, DC, alongside the National Guard, with another 1,600 active duty troops on stand-by. Use of the military against the people demonstrating for rights constitutes tyranny, something the Constitution is supposed to prevent but clearly does not.

There is also widespread discussion on the inadequacies of the methods for casting a ballot in the U.S. as well as its racist exclusion of large numbers of Blacks, Latinx and Asian Americans unable to vote, as well as the prisoners who are disproportionately Black unjustly incarcerated, and so on. All of it shows the doubt in the minds of all, no matter what their political persuasion, that the U.S. “democracy” can sort out the crisis in which it is mired without resorting to violence.

Meanwhile, a plethora of speeches have been delivered on China, the Communist Party of China and communism by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General William Barr, the head of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haas, Director of the FBI Christopher Wray, and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. All of it constitutes the official disinformation which seeks to divert people from formulating an outlook of their own. Without establishing their own reference points based on their own aims, people are not able to successfully express opinions on how things pose themselves so as to sort out what’s what in a manner that favours them. This is required in order to organize appropriately and avert the dangers inherent to the situation.

An increasing number of news reports are repeating scenarios from the previous election, with CIA and Director of National Intelligence officials declaring there is foreign interference by Russia, China and Iran in the U.S. election. A report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on July 24 is titled “Election Threat Update for the American Public.” National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina says he is providing the American public “an unclassified overview of foreign threats to the 2020 election and offering basic steps to mitigate some of these threats.” Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden also issued a statement saying that Russia is interfering against him. CNN dove in by reporting other intelligence agents say that the content mentioned in various reports is not accurate. And so it goes.

What took place in the last election and has dominated accusations and counter-accusations through the Trump term of office is playing out once again. The difference is that today the contradictions are even sharper over control of everything and everyone and, most importantly, artificial intelligence and its uses to control who dominates the world.

In the last election it was the Clinton forces who used what Hillary Clinton called the “intelligence community” to interfere in the election campaign. Some claim that cyber warfare by either China or Russia could certainly be used to trigger an emergency or otherwise say the vote is not valid or the intelligence agencies themselves could do the same and say Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, must decide a disputed outcome. Nancy Pelosi, head of the House, is already instructing House members about preparing for such an outcome and organizing to ensure a Biden victory. Such an outcome will raise another furore about whether the vote counts, what constitutes a majority, is the president legitimate, and so on.

While promoting various scenarios, the politicians and media persist in claiming that it is the people who elect the president. This is ridiculous even at face value. The people do not nominate the candidates who clearly do not represent their interests but those of the financial oligarchy that bring them to power. Furthermore, given the failure to modernize how votes are cast so that a true reflection of eligible voters reflects the true majority of members of the U.S. polity, saying the vote records a majority decision is fictitious. But more than that – it constitutes a state-perpetrated campaign of disinformation intended to make sure Americans are stuck with old equations based on arrangements which have perpetuated different forms of slavery, exploitation, oppression and imperialist domination to this day. Those arrangements cannot possibly be relied on to sort out the problems of today.

It is a great irony that at a time when there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the U.S. itself has descended into tyranny, it is launching the most vituperous warmongering attacks against China based on arguments which bless the crisis-ridden U.S. as the model of democracy and its defunct liberal democratic institutions as the pinnacle of governance humanity can hope to achieve.

Interestingly enough, he was answered by Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, not Canada’s Prime Minister. With the support of certain union leaders, Chrystia Freeland postured as a militant defender of Canadian national interests.

Other diversions which constitute disinformation also include Trump’s short-lived resuscitation of tariffs on aluminum from Canada – a desperate move to appeal to auto and steel sectors to side with him in the election, not the Democrats. Interestingly enough, he was answered by Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, not Canada’s Prime Minister. With the support of certain union leaders, Chrystia Freeland postured as a militant defender of Canadian national interests. In fact both aluminum and steel are crucial in war production and, in the last round of tariffs from both sides of the border, the rich got richer because of them. It is the most cynical ploy to divide the working class from both countries behind interests which parade as something they are not.

As well as stepping up attacks against China and Iran, the U.S. also continues to stir up serious trouble in Europe in ongoing attempts to isolate Russia as well as Iran. Directly and through the use of proxies, it continues to step up attacks against revolutionary Cuba in various ways, against Venezuela and other countries of Our America. Prospects of holding a peaceful election in Bolivia are next to none.

To divert attention from the crisis in which the U.S. and its institutions and economy are mired, the danger of Trump launching a foreign invasion is ever present.

To divert attention from the crisis in which the U.S. and its institutions and economy are mired, the danger of Trump launching a foreign invasion is ever present. A known practice in the U.S. is to launch a foreign invasion as part of attempts to unite the military and avert the danger of civil war at home. Already in the U.S. as attempts escalate to end the mass movement which continues to rage across the country in defence of rights, we see the kind of disagreements between competing authorities which can readily escalate into violent conflicts. The disagreements signal that the civil war could turn violent at any time as various military and policing and intelligence agencies are lining up behind the narrow private interests vying to exercise the power of the presidency.

The fact is that since George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld’s expectation that their “shock and awe” aggression against Iraq would be met with open arms in Iraq, worldwide and in the U.S., this and other foreign invasions have failed to unite the military or the policing and intelligence agencies. Despite this and the tyranny the U.S. has proven itself to be in the handling of the mass movement taking place at this time, both candidates to the presidency issue vicious statements against Venezuela as well as socialism which they equate with mob rule and tyranny.

The most cynical use has been made of the Trump presidency to further dismantle the constitutional arrangements from the past. Today, the public authority and institutions, including the political parties and houses of congress and judicial system, no longer function to serve their original purposes of sorting out the contradictions between the factions and to keep the people in check. The establishment of Homeland Security has created many more police forces under the federal authority in a move designed to take over state rights and to put down the revolt of the largest faction in the U.S., the so-called mob. All of it seeks to give unfettered direct control of the U.S. state to the oligopolies, their coalitions and cartels which dominate the narrow private interests. The fight over control sharpens the contradictions between these private interests fomenting the civil war at home and danger of wars of aggression abroad.

The fight over fossil fuels and oil versus what are called green solutions is over control of the use of artificial intelligence and space, which is fuelling the war machine. The same oligopolies and their cartels and coalitions are behind both fossil fuels and green solutions. The colour of the cat does not matter to either side, so long as it catches mice.

In the opinion of CPC(M-L), it is important to pay attention to the U.S. election from the vantage point which helps the peoples of the United States, Canada, Mexico and all countries of the world to prepare for what lies ahead. Canada is integrated into the U.S. war machine and the government of Canada is an extension of the narrow private interests which have taken over the office of the U.S. presidency. The conflicts in that country are mirrored by the conflicts of interest raging in Canada itself, including the palace coup which is unfolding before our eyes.

(Photos: VOR, K. Erikson, S. Devol, Portland Independent Documentarians)

TML Weekly, Supplement, No. 37, October 3, 2020

Oppose foreign interference in Bolivian election! Let the Bolivian people decide!

July 14, 2020 demonstration in La Paz, Bolivia.

ALBA Movements Canada, October 15, 2020

Following continuous massive protests by the organized Bolivian people in defence of their right to elect a president and government of their choosing, the elections, postponed three times, will finally take place on October 18.

Protest at new British spy towers in Northern Ireland

Large-scale surveillance installations used by British forces to spy on the nationalist population in the north of Ireland are the focus of a new campaign by republican activists.

This Day. Foundation of America

Illustration in Prensa Latina

In Cuba, according to Christopher Columbus, there were mermaids with men’s faces and rooster feathers.

In Guiana, according to Sir Walter Raleigh, there were people with eyes on their shoulders and their mouths on their chests.

This day. Day of indigenous rebellion for their land and nature

Illustration in Prensa Latina

By Marta Denis Valle, Prensa Latina 

Havana (Prensa Latina) More than 500 years after the controversial discovery of the so-called New World, descendants of the original peoples of the American continent maintain their sense of rebellion, in defence of their land and nature.

The arrival of the first expedition of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón, 1451-1506), on October 12, 1492, to the island of Guanahaní, in the Lucayas or Bahamas, is an event celebrated for decades as a national holiday of Spain, with the qualification of Columbus Day, an ambiguous term.

Trudeau government’s foreign policy (II)

Trudeau’s shameless presentation to the UN General Assembly | HILARY LEBLANC

In an exhibition of utmost hubris and self-delusion, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the General Debate of the General Assembly of the United Nations’ 75th session on September 25.

In a pre-recorded message, he used the occasion to promote the imperialist conception of a new world order being pushed by a section of the international financial oligarchy in their fight over control of the world’s peoples and resources under today’s conditions.

Trudeau government’s foreign policy (I)

Attempts to justify Anglo-American imperialist restructuring of international institutions and world order | Pauline Easton

The Trudeau government’s conception of reality, manifest in Prime Minister Trudeau’s presentation to the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, is becoming horribly entangled in its own machinations and prejudices. The Trudeau government makes a perpetual muddle of how it perceives unfolding events and the results of the neo-liberal world order but this is not the worst of it. Its deadly vice is unbridled chauvinism in favour of anachronistic Anglo-American liberal democratic institutions, a lust for itself, its megalomania, and an intolerant attitude towards all those who espouse values of their own, based on their right to be. This intolerant attitude is racist and leads to violence.

UK: Black History Month and contested history

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been speaking a lot about history recently. October has become by tradition “Black History Month” in England and it has become customary for the Prime Minister of the day to make some pronouncement.

Let Music Live

Professional musicians speak out

Musicians united in London’s Parliament Square and in Birmingham on Tuesday, October 6, at 12:00 noon to speak out on the value of music professionals, as well as others in the arts culture sector.

Shameless cartoon from la-la land

This is a shameless cartoon from the Halifax Chronicle Herald, owned by the regional media monopoly Saltwire:

Canada is deeply involved in a humanitarian crisis. The role of the Canadian government – and that of Nova Scotia, regardless of the relatively low number of cases (1,089) – is unconscionable. Internationally, it provides a good cop, bad cop human face for the Trump presidency and U.S.-led aggression. Nationally, in the last week 14,882 new cases were announced, 22 per cent more than the previous week. It is one thing to mock U.S. imperialism; Canadians deeply distrust American politics. The people of Nova Scotia face the same challenges as all of us and are fighting for the rights of all. The editorial message is: Long live the “Atlantic bubble” – an exceptional island of social peace exempt from a global humanitarian crisis.