Category: Canada
Noam Chomsky I have been asked to speak on some aspect of academic or human freedom, an invitation that offers many choices. I will keep to some simple ones. Freedom without opportunity is a devil’s gift, and the refusal to provide such opportunities is criminal. The fate of the more vulnerable offers a sharp Read more…
Bob Harris: The ScoopHarris The Gingrich Bailout In accepting $300,000 from Bob Dole, Newt Gingrich claims he took the high ground. If enough folks examine the deal closely, he may have to head on up to the hills. House rules only allow loans on terms "generally available to the public." That includes me, so I called Read more…
Holly Sklar Imagine a country where one out of four children is born into poverty, and wealth is being redistributed upward. Since the 1970s, the top 1 percent of families have doubled their share of the nation’s wealth—while the percentage of children living in extreme poverty has also doubled. Highlighting growing wage inequality, the Read more…
Charles Fairchild: Low-Power RadioFairchild As part of his arguments submitted to the FCC regarding the possibility of low-power radio in the U.S., Free Radio Berkeley founder Stephen Dunifer suggested that low-power broadcasting in Canada could act as a model for licensing related efforts in the U.S. The arguments used by commissioners to counter Dunifer fell into one Read more…
Simon Archer: Export, Eh?Archer In January the Canadian Trade Minister, Art Eggleton, came down with competitive advantage flu and mused that the state should not support or protect Canadian culture, but instead "free" it for export and, one assumes, to flourish accordingly. He was speaking generally about the increasing presence of U.S. media in Canada, but seemed Read more…
Clara James: Haiti: The Roof Is LeakingClara James On April 6, Haiti held elections to fill one-third of the Senate seats and positions on over 500 communal and town councils. The only problem was, most Haitians did not go to the polls. Only about 5 percent of those eligible to vote even bothered. Almost before local commentators could react, Washington Read more…
Tom Johnson: Nuclear Politics All MOXed OutOn January 14, 1997, representatives from 171 medical, environmental, and activist organizations in the United States and 18 other countries—including every major nuclear power except China and Israel—sent a letter to President Bill Clinton asking him to overrule a decision by former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary to process plutonium from nuclear warheads and "burn" Read more…
Ward Churchill As the 20th century prepares to take its rightful place in the dustbin of history, the last vestiges of sovereignty among the more than 300 indigenous nations trapped inside the claimed boundaries of the United States are rapidly sliding into a kind of final oblivion. In one of official America’s supreme gestures Read more…
James Petras: The Political Economy of Early Debt PaymentOn January 15 President Clinton announced that Mexico had repaid all of the $12.5 billion it borrowed from Washington to stave off financial collapse and bail out Wall Street speculators. The New York Times (January 16, 1997) reported that "The repayment of the loan—three years ahead of schedule—was marked by a celebration at the Read more…
John Buell: The Politics of Family LeaveDuring a state visit to Canada several years ago, President Clinton was asked about the long overtime hours many U.S. and Canadian auto workers are frequently forced to work. He responded fliply: “Where I come from, they call that a high class problem” and went on to suggest that workers should be grateful for Read more…