Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Photo by Michał Siergiejevicz/Wikimedia Commons. Alexei Navalny looks directly into the camera. He has a remarkably expressive face, and presently it is expressing concern, skepticism, and discomfort. Director Daniel Roher is in the process of telling him he is about to ask a question that
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: BLOWBACK – And Collapse
JFK, MLK, The CIA – And The Collapse Of The West Yes, the evidence is clear: the CIA killed JFK, RFK, MLK, and Malcolm X. They are the goons of the corporate-state oligarchy. What did you think they do? Defend freedom and democracy? Were you born yesterday? (Read, Killing Hope,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Putting royalty to rest
“The Funeral Ceremony of Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales and Saxe Coburg,” by Thomas Sunderland (1818). Image courtesy the National Portrait Gallery/Wikimedia Commons. It was hardly surprising that the death of Queen Elizabeth II was marked by a grandiose and carefully crafted public spectacle. The scale and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Monarchs belong in the dustbin of history
“Off With Her Head.” Illustration by Mr. Fish The fawning adulation of Queen Elizabeth in the United States, which fought a revolution to get rid of the monarchy, and in Great Britain, is in direct proportion to the fear gripping a discredited, incompetent and corrupt global ruling elite. The global
Continue readingCathie from Canada: Today’s News: Updates from all over
Uvalde Massacre update: The Uvalde preliminary report is out and it is damning. pic.twitter.com/1pIjB5hVwX — mrs.LHS 🇺🇦🍀🌻☮️ (@ABPC84) July 18, 2022 We’ve gutted education financing to fund police departments just so nearly 400 Uvalde cops in full military gear could stand around while 19 children and 2 teachers were killed
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Russia at a turning point?
Photo by Firdaus Omar/Flickr In March of this year, news came from Russia that former Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais had quit his job as presidential special representative for the environment and left the country. With the exception of President Vladimir Putin’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Sergei Kirienko, there is
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: German elections: Change, no change
Germany’s Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals want to form a government but are unable to come up with a program that would at least point in the direction of fixing the most pressing social and ecological issues, writes Ingo Schmidt. Photo courtesy Olaf Scholz/Twitter. If she had run again, she
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Affordable electricity Decarbonization in OECD countries? Part I
After eight extensive posts about the Ontario electricity sector, I am expanding my geographic coverage to look at the electricity sectors in selected OECD countries. My focus will be on the historical and relative performance of each country’s sector with respect to decarbonization and prices. As in the case of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Belarus: Freedom and sanctions in a pipeline country
The petroleum sector is crucial to the Belarusian economy, but US sanctions are having the unintended consequence of pushing the Lukashenko regime closer to Russia, whose companies are eager to export their production to the Belorussian market. Photo by Viktor Drachev. Western outrage against Belarus flared again on May 23
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Nord Stream 2: Last-ditch opposition to nearly-completed pipeline intensifies
Inspectors analyze components of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Photo courtesy Nord Stream 2 Corp./Twitter. In March and early April, when Polish ships ventured into the restricted pipelaying zone for Nord Stream 2, they turned an economic dispute into a military provocation. In separate incidents, a Polish warship manoeuvred near
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Unspoken Privilege – English Privilege
We all know what White Privilege is but no one seems to speak about English Privilege. English privilege is simply the ability of English language speakers to get by practically anywhere in the world without learning another language. It brings with it a sense of entitlement. English speakers get annoyed
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Understanding Alexei Navalny
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny marches on Tverskaya Street, Moscow, March 26, 2017. Photo by Evgeny Feldman/Wikimedia Commons. To understand Aleksei Naval’nyi’s significance for Russia, one needs some idea of the nature of the political regime. This is a ‘Bonapartist’-type regime, in which the state administration, and proximity to it,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Brexit and the European Union Revisited
This was my view on the proposed European Union from the beginning: I am in favour of open borders, free and fair trade, cultural exchange and international cooperation; however, I am also strongly in favour of democracy, and the proposed European Union would not likely be compatible with democracy.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Why Labour Lost in Britain
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in Bristol, December 2019. Photo from Flickr. There’s been a vast amount of foolishness in the discussion of this. Labour lost for two main reasons: Their base was split by Brexit, and in a real way, no “positioning” could avoid this. There was a
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Reflections on Labour’s defeat and the challenge ahead
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in in Glasgow, December 2019. Photo from Flickr. I had the privilege to dedicate the final 15 days leading to the general elections yesterday to canvassing intensively for Labour. Together with hundreds of volunteers, I commuted daily from Manchester to eight North West marginal
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Support for fascist forces growing in Germany
Alexander Gauland • Photo by Alexander Gauland The wise priest Laocoön, old legends say, vainly warned against the famous “Trojan horse”. A hostile god sent giant serpents which strangled him and the big wooden present was opened. The soldiers hidden inside opened Troy’s gates so the Greek battalions could rush
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Jeremy Corbyn is the most smeared politician in history
The media serves an important if not vital function in a democratic society. But, what if the bulk of the mainstream press becomes controlled by a handful of foreign-based billionaires? Anyone can see the obvious perils of a state-controlled media, but the dangers of the extreme opposite scenario are not
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Plot to Keep Jeremy Corbyn Out of Power
Photo by Davide Simonetti In the latest of the interminable media “furores” about Jeremy Corbyn’s supposed unfitness to lead Britain’s Labour party – let alone become prime minister – it is easy to forget where we were shortly before he won the support of an overwhelming majority of Labour members
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Belgium’s Left Breakthrough
On May 27th, Europe awakened to what seemed to be like a new stage in the resurgence of the populist right and reactionary forces, and a major retreat for the radical left in the elections to the European parliament. In Italy, the growing political hegemony of Matteo Salvini’s project was
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The ‘Russia connection’ that unites the European right
Photo by Book Catalog It’s not the rejection of immigration, the defense of a notion of national identity or the impulse to say no to the dictates from Brussels. If there’s something Europe’s new right-wing parties have in common, it’s not their slogans or electoral programs, but rather their geopolitical
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