#International Democracy Union

[lost-carcosa]

Disgraced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who unlawfully suspended Parliament, restricted the right to protest, and lied to MPs, has been appointed to the advisory board of the International Democracy Union, the global centre-right group for “freedom and democracy”. 

The International Democracy Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties based in Munich, Germany. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, the former Prime Minister of Canada. 

The group announced on Tuesday: “The IDU is excited to announce that PM Boris Johnson has joined our Honorary Advisory Board. His extensive experience as a statesman will be of tremendous help as we work towards building an ever-stronger alliance of the centre-right! Welcome to the IDU, Prime Minister!”

The decision has been met with baffled outrage on social media. In June, a report found that democracy in the UK was in retreat, following Boris Johnson’s cavalier approach to standards in public life and efforts to warp the constitution under his tenure.

Commissioned by democratic pressure groups, Unlock Democracy and Compass, the report found that issues like the partygate scandal – where politicians making the rules repeatedly  broke them over Covid – and the lobbying scandal surrounding Owen Paterson which saw Johnson try and fail to get him out of hot water by overriding Commons procedure – undermined the strength of democracy in the UK. 

Johnson’s government also introduced mandatory photo voter ID, which has made it much more difficult for millions of people to vote. At the same time, his Elections Act undermined the principle that the body responsible for overseeing elections, in this case the Electoral Commission, should be independent of government. The government can now set the body’s strategy and has a majority of seats on the parliamentary body overseeing it. 

Meanwhile, clampdowns on the right to protest and strike, and conscious attempts to delegitimise and weaken the power of independent regulators and the judiciary, compounded existing failings within UK democracy, the report found.

The IDU post is the latest gong for the man who shut down Parliament in order to prevent it voting against his Brexit plans, and who resigned when faced with a potential Commons vote over repeatedly lying to MPs. Johnson’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act has also seen hundreds of peaceful protesters locked up since passing last April.

Responding to the announcement that the former Prime Minister has joined the IDU’s Honorary Advisory Board, Tom Brufatto, Director of Policy at Best for Britain, said: “There is a staggering irony in Boris Johnson – the man who unlawfully prorogued parliament, eroded voters’ democratic rights with the Election’s Bill, and was found to have deliberately misled Parliament and the country during the pandemic – providing advice on the promotion of democracy.

“He should have no further influence on our or anyone else’s politics.”

Byline Times readers responded to the news of Johnson’s new post with disbelief. “Their entrance requirements must be really low to think he’s an asset to the group,” one said. 

Another said: “Any potential credibility they have just flown out of the window. [I] can’t believe any organisation thinks having Johnson on board is an asset.”

“Johnson is one of the greatest scam artists the UK has ever seen,” one argued. “If they are pleased he has joined them it says a lot about their integrity or rather lack of it,” another said, while one branded it simply: “Farcical.”

Another pointed to Johnson’s decision in 2019 to withdraw the whip from 21 Conservative MPs who dared to challenge him over his no-deal Brexit push: “At the next election, many were replaced by people of the ‘calibre’ of Lee Anderson, Scott Benton and others.”

One reader noted wryly: “I expect they want his skills and expertise in how to dismantle and damage democracy.” Others mocked the IDU’s use of the phrase ‘Prime Minister’ to describe Johnson, in the way that former US presidents keep their ‘President’ title. “He appears to have fooled the IDU into thinking he is Prime Minister,” one said.

Several replied simply with clown emojis. 

Former Conservative leader William Hague is a former chairman of the IDU. In June last year, Hague was among those calling for Johnson to quit as PM, saying his win among MPs was the “worst possible result” for the party. 

The damage done to his premiership was “severe” and showed a “greater level of rejection than any Tory leader has ever endured and survived”, Hague said, slamming Johnson’s failure to tackle the drinking culture in No 10 during the lockdowns. 

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

Internment

"On January 11, 1940, the DOCR [Defence of Canada Regulations] were amended so as to permit preventive detention, internment before the fact of having committed a crime, ie. article 21. This meant that even though charges for precise offences might not hold up in court, communists could still be interned using vague terms. As well, should the police fail in making a DOCR charge stick, then the freed prisoner could quickly be interned. This situation applied to Ottawans Louis Binder and Arthur Saunders, and to westerners  Charles Weir, John McNeil, Pat Lenihan, Alex Miller, and Ben Swankey.

In June, 1940, via DOCR regulation 39C, the Communist Party and related  associations were made illegal. These associations included the Young Communist  League, the League for Peace and Democracy, which had succeeded the League to Fight  War and Fascism, and the Canadian Labour Defence League, as well as several pro-communist, ethnic associations: The Ukrainian Labour-Farmer Temple Association, the  Canadian Ukrainian Youth Federation, the Finnish Organization of Canada, the Russian  Workers and Farmers Club, the Croatian Cultural Organization, the Hungarian Workers  Club, and the Polish People’s Association. Membership in these organizations became illegal; it came to be the grounds most often used for internment.

The first internments took place on June 26, 1940, when Jacob Penner and John Navis, from Winnipeg, and Ottawans Louis Binder and Arthur Saunders were interned. Arrests for internment could follow at any time, but there were more active periods. On June 28 and 29, 1940, nine Montrealers as well as Nicholas Pyndus, from Trois-Rivières, and Robert Kerr and Fergus McKean, each from Vancouver, were interned. On July 8, 1940, seventeen Ukrainian Winnipegers were interned. On August 9, 1940, seven men  including five Montrealers were interned. On September 8 and 9, 1940, five more were  arrested for internment; on October 10, 1940, four more were interned. The last internment in Hull began on February 10, 1942 when Harvey Murphy was transferred from a Toronto prison.

The cases of Jacob Penner and Pat Sullivan provided important legal precedents about the question of habeas corpus. Were the governments and the police obliged to provide motives for the decision to intern someone, other than article 21 of the DOCR, whereby people presented a danger to the security of the state or the prosecution to the war, or article 39C, whereby people were members of an illegal organization? Jacob Penner was a highly-respected communist and municipal councillor in Winnipeg. After being interned in Kananaskis, Penner’s family hired a lawyer who successfully applied for habeas corpus , however, federal authorities simply held him during the summer of 1940 in an immigration centre in Winnipeg. In August, 1940, a federal appeals judge ruled that habeas corpus did not apply to DOCR article 21. Penner was returned to Kananaskis, providing an important precedent relative to internees from Western Canada.

In central Canada, Pat Sullivan, President of the Canadian Seamen’s Union, was arrested on June 18, 1940. The only explanation for Sullivan’s arrest offered to lawyer J. L. Cohen was Sullivan’s membership in the Communist Party, which the defendant denied. Cohen then launched unsuccessful habeas corpus proceedings in which an Ontario judge ruled that habeas corpus was not relevant since the detainer was not the minister of Justice, and the latter was not required to accept recommendations of a consulting committee considering the detention. Cohen was going to subject this tortured logic of the Ontario Appeals Court judge to the Supreme Court, but decided to desist when the federal government promised to improve the workings of the consulting committees, and to reveal more about the motives for Sullivan’s internment. Nevertheless, after considerable stalling by the minister of Justice, it became clear that the real reasons for Sullivan’s internment were strikes by the Canadian Seamen’s Union in 1938 and 1939, and especially in April, 1940, when Sullivan’s union closed shipping on the Great Lakes from the Lakehead to Montreal. Conciliation following this last strike was proceeding when Sullivan was arrested. Not only did Sullivan’s case show that habeas corpus was of no effect with respect to the internees, it also showed that for some internees, at least for Sullivan, the real motive of internment was union activity.

One suspects the considerable influence of C. D. Howe and his business colleagues working in Ottawa. This was also the case for several of Sullivan’s colleagues within the Canadian Seamen’s Union. A month after Sullivan was arrested, Jack Chapman, union secretary, was arrested while a few days later, Dave Sinclair, editor of the union’s newspaper Searchlight, was arrested for having written about the Sullivan case. Sinclair’s case also demonstrated farcically the incompetence of the RCMP. Sinclair was the nom de plume of David Siglar, a fact he did not hide. During his appeal before the consulting committee, the RCMP presented as evidence activities of someone unknown to Siglar named ‘Segal’, a common name among Jews. Siglar had no idea about whom or what the RCMP was talking not knowing the ‘Segal’ in question, but he did plead guilty to having known several people named ‘Segal’.

The case of Charles Murray, organizer for a fishermen’s union in Lockeport, Nova Scotia, a union affiliated with the Canadian Seamen’s Union, provided another example of how union activities might lead to internment. On June 15, 1940, Nova Scotia’s labour minister, L. D. Currie, sent a letter to Murray stating that:

…You are a communist and as such, deserve to be treated in the same manner as I would be treated if I endeavoured to carry on in Russia as you are doing in Nova Scotia. I warn you now to desist from your efforts to create industrial trouble, and I warn you too that your conduct will from now on be carefully watched and examined, and if I find out that you do not quit this sort of business, then it will be most certainly the worst for you. I am giving you this final word of warning. My advice to you is to get out of Lockeport and stay out…

A few days later, Murray was interned in Petawawa.

Other union leaders received similar fates to those of the leaders of the Canadian Seamen’s Union. Fred Collins had led a successful strike against furniture manufacturers in Stratford, Ontario. James Murphy was the leader of the Technical Employees Association of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and was arrested in the middle of negotiations. Orton Wade was negotiating with meat packing companies in Winnipeg when he was arrested. Bruce Magnuson was a union leader from Port Arthur, where he was local president of the Union of Lumber and Sawmill Workers. Unfortunately, his  federal MP was none other than C. D. Howe. In August, 1940, Howe responded to one of Magnuson’s colleagues complaining about the internment of Magnuson.

For very obvious reasons, the normal course of the law must be supplemented by special powers. Otherwise, the effort of the government to suppress fifth-column activities would be of no avail. The now tragic account of fifth-column activities in Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France is ample proof of the inadequacy of the ordinary peacetime machinery of the law in  controlling subversive elements… Persons who are considered to be friendly towards Canada’s enemies, or who in any way interfere with Canada’s war effort, are recommended for internment on the strength of evidence assembled by the Force (RCMP).

The motive given for Magnuson’s internment was his membership in the Party, but after the Party began supporting the war effort, Howe wrote to Magnuson in October, 1941: 

… do you think that the ends of justice would be served by your release merely because circumstances have caused a change of front by the Communist Party? You were interned because you were out of sympathy with Canada’s war effort, and because you were an active member of an organization which sought to impede that effort.

The case of Clarence Jackson also demonstrated the long arm of Howe. On June 11, 1941, Howe wrote to Justice minister Lapointe, demanding that Jackson be arrested. 

Please permit me to call your attention to the activities of one C. S. Jackson, who is undoubtedly one of the most active trouble makers and labour racketeers in Canada today. Jackson has been expelled from the Canadian Congress of Labour as a Communist. He has  been responsible for strikes at the R.C.A. Victor plant, the Canadian General Electric plant, and he is now boring in to the Canadian Westinghouse plant at Hamilton. The Westinghouse plant is the most important war manufacturer in Canada, having contracts for anti-aircraft guns, naval equipment, and a wide variety of electrical work important to our production. A strike at Westinghouse would directly stop many branches of our munitions programme. I cannot think why Canada spends large sums for protection against sabotage and permits Jackson to carry on his subversive activities. No group of saboteurs could possibly effect the damage that this man is causing. I feel sure that this is a matter for prompt police action. I suggest that responsible labour leaders can supply any information that you may require on which to base police action.

There is evidence, furthermore, according to the biographer of Jackson, that the Canadian Congress of Labour was complicit in the internment of Jackson. Jackson was arrested on June 23, 1941, but was released from Hull six months later owing to pressure by the American section of his union. 

Others were interned for strange reasons. Rodolphe Majeau, a member of the Canadian Seamen’s Union, was interned for having aided Communist candidate Évariste Dubé during the federal election of 1940, when the Party was still legal, an example of a retroactive charge. Scott McLean, a Cape Breton millwright was interned because of dynamite he had in his possession when arrested, dynamite he was using to explode rocks and a manure pile on his farm. John Prossack, from Winnipeg, an elderly Ukrainian  charged with membership in the Party, was not in the least involved in politics. Prossack believed that he was interned owing to a bad relationship with his former son-in-law, a paid police informer. Muni Taub, a Montreal tailor left the Party at the end of 1939,  one of the many Europeans disgusted at the Hitler-Stalin pact. Nevertheless, motives given for Taub’s internment included his writing for a leftist, Jewish newspaper; his  membership in the banned Canadian Labour Defence League, and most of all, Taub’s challenge of the constitutionality of Duplessis’ Padlock Law during the 1930s."

- Michael Martin, The Red Patch: Political Imprisonment in Hull, Quebec during World War 2. Self-published, 2007. p. 124-131

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil's Lula says democracy at risk after far-right surge in EU vote

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that democracy was at risk, commenting on the far-right gains in the European Parliament after last weekend's elections.

"We have a problem of democracy as we know it being at risk," the head of state told journalists ahead of an International Labor Organization event in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The denialist denies institutions, denies what Parliament is, what the Supreme Court is, what the Judiciary is, what Congress itself is," the leftist leader said.

Lula, who will take part in this week's Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy after he was invited by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, added that those who believe in democracy must fight to preserve it everywhere in the world.

Continue reading.

[windsails]

nonprofits are overrated. if you really wanted to help people you would prove economic democracy, helping others, and improving communities is popular and profitable and actually start taking over huge sections of the economy to democratize them and organize apps, software, logistical systems, communities to run it all. in other words, profiting collectively from the redistribution wealth and power to the people of the world

[internationaldayofdemocracy]

Democracy 2030.

"Democracy 2030" questions how parliaments will function in the future, how to engage and involve youth, and the importance of democracy for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

[endimpunityday]

DAY I - SESSION 1: Safety of journalists in elections and crisis contexts: risks to democracies.

This session will delve into the security, violence and attacks against journalists and communicators during election periods and crisis contexts, as well as the specific obligations and responsibilities of States, officials and electoral authorities in these contexts. Participants will be able to delve into the integrity of elections, the risks faced by democratic institutions, as well as other issues related to journalistic coverage, protests and discrimination against women journalists during election cycles and other crisis contexts.

Moderator: Santiago Cantón, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

Testimonies from:

Patience Nyange, Executive Director, Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK)

Nataliya Gumenyuk, Co-Founder, Public Interest Journalism Lab, Ukraine

Panel discussion:

Andrea Cairola, Senior Programme Specialist, UNESCO

Zoe Titus, Chairperson, Global Forum for Media Development, Executive Director, Namibia Media Trust 

Ambassador Salah S. Hammad, Head of African Governannce Architecture Secretariat, African Union

Gerardo de Icaza, Director, Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, Organization of American States 

Arif Zulkifli, Chairperson, Law Commission, Indonesian Press Council

10:30 - 11:30  - Session 1: Safety of journalists in elections and crisis contexts: risks to democracies.

[marktaylor-canfield]

Thom Hartmann: Seattle's New Anti-Caste Discrimination Law - Report From Mark Taylor-Canfield

[in-sightpublishing]

Would You Be My Neighbour? 2: Amsterdam Declaration 2022

Would You Be My Neighbour? 2: Amsterdam Declaration 2022

Publisher: In-Sight Publishing Publisher Founding: November 1, 2014 Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com  Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal Journal Founding: August 2, 2012 Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access Fees:…

[reasonsforhope]

Note: I super don't like the framing of this headline. "Here's why it matters" idk it's almost like there's an entire country's worth of people who get to keep their democracy! Clearly! But there are few good articles on this in English, so we're going with this one anyway.

--

2024 is the biggest global election year in history and the future of democracy is on every ballot. But amid an international backsliding in democratic norms, including in countries with a longer history of democracy like India, Senegal’s election last week was a major win for democracy. It’s also an indication that a new political class is coming of age in Africa, exemplified by Senegal’s new 44-year-old president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

The West African nation managed to pull off a free and fair election on March 24 despite significant obstacles, including efforts by former President Macky Sall to delay the elections and imprison or disqualify opposition candidates. Add those challenges to the fact that many neighboring countries in West Africa — most prominently Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, but other nations across the region too — have been repeatedly undermined by military coups since 2020.

Sall had been in power since 2012, serving two terms. He declined to seek a third term following years of speculation that he would do so despite a constitutional two-term limit. But he attempted to extend his term, announcing in February that elections (originally to be held that month) would be pushed off until the end of the year in defiance of the electoral schedule.

Sall’s allies in the National Assembly approved the measure, but only after security forces removed opposition politicians, who vociferously protested the delay. Senegalese society came out in droves to protest Sall’s attempted self-coup, and the Constitutional Council ruled in late February that Sall’s attempt to stay in power could not stand.

That itself was a win for democracy. Still, opposition candidates, including Faye, though legally able to run, remained imprisoned until just days before the election — while others were barred from running at all. The future of Senegal’s democracy seemed uncertain at best.

Cut to Tuesday [April 2, 2024], when Sall stepped down and handed power to Faye, a former tax examiner who won on a campaign of combating corruption, as well as greater sovereignty and economic opportunity for the Senegalese. And it was young voters who carried Faye to victory...

“This election showed the resilience of the democracy in Senegal that resisted the shock of an unexpected postponement,” Adele Ravidà, Senegal country director at the lnternational Foundation for Electoral Systems, told Vox via email. “... after a couple of years of unprecedented episodes of violence [the Senegalese people] turned the page smoothly, allowing a peaceful transfer of power.”

And though Faye’s aims won’t be easy to achieve, his win can tell us not only about how Senegal managed to establish its young democracy, but also about the positive trend of democratic entrenchment and international cooperation in African nations, and the power of young Africans...

Senegal and Democracy in Africa

Since it gained independence from France in 1960, Senegal has never had a coup — military or civilian. Increasingly strong and competitive democracy has been the norm for Senegal, and the country’s civil society went out in great force over the past three years of Sall’s term to enforce those norms.

“I think that it is really the victory of the democratic institutions — the government, but also civil society organization,” Sany said. “They were mobilized, from the unions, teacher unions, workers, NGOs. The civil society in Senegal is one of the most experienced, well-organized democratic institutions on the continent.” Senegalese civil society also pushed back against former President Abdoulaye Wade’s attempt to cling to power back in 2012, and the Senegalese people voted him out...

Faye will still have his work cut out for him accomplishing the goals he campaigned on, including economic prosperity, transparency, food security, increased sovereignty, and the strengthening of democratic institutions. This will be important, especially for Senegal’s young people, who are at the forefront of another major trend.

Young Africans will play an increasingly key role in the coming decades, both on the continent and on the global stage; Africa’s youth population (people aged 15 to 24) will make up approximately 35 percent of the world’s youth population by 2050, and Africa’s population is expected to grow from 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion during that time. In Senegal, people aged 10 to 24 make up 32 percent of the population, according to the UN.

“These young people have connected to the rest of the world,” Sany said. “They see what’s happening. They are interested. They are smart. They are more educated.” And they have high expectations not only for their economic future but also for their civil rights and autonomy.

The reality of government is always different from the promise of campaigning, but Faye’s election is part of a promising trend of democratic entrenchment in Africa, exemplified by successful transitions of power in Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone over the past year. To be sure, those elections were not without challenges, but on the whole, they provide an important counterweight to democratic backsliding.

Senegalese people, especially the younger generation, have high expectations for what democracy can and should deliver for them. It’s up to Faye and his government to follow."

-via Vox, April 4, 2024

[secular-jew]

I’m a Palestinian American. Here’s Why I Can’t Support the Anti-Israel Protesters. By Elizabeth Gillanders. August 16, 2024

Walking past Union Station in the nation’s capital, I recently was met with a heartbreaking sight. Vandals had defaced the Columbus Memorial Fountain with spray paint, writing the words “Hamas is coming” in big red letters.

Trash and signs discarded by anti-Israel protesters littered the ground. A burnt shopping cart stood off to one side with piles of ash beneath it.

Most depressing, however, were the three bare flag poles that had been robbed of their American flags. Protesters had burned the flags, the only remnant a charred piece of fabric atop another pile of ash.

This was the aftermath of the July 24 “pro-Palestinian” protests in Washington, D.C., organized in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address that day to a joint meeting of Congress.

As an American of Palestinian heritage, some expect me to cheer on these people. They expect me to condemn the U.S., hate Israel, and support Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to wiping out the Jewish state.

But these expectations don’t represent me, nor my family.

I inherit my Palestinian background from my mother’s side of the family; her parents emigrated to America from the Middle East. My grandma was born in Israel and later moved to Ramallah in the West Bank and eventually to Jordan.

After arriving in America in her 20s, my grandma worked hard to become a U.S. citizen. She learned the English language while raising my mother and uncle. She opened a restaurant with my grandpa, lovingly named the Chicken Pantry, in Hamtramck, Michigan. When that business closed, my grandma worked as a real estate agent before eventually retiring in the land of prosperity.

America brought my family prosperity. My grandparents taught my mother to “kiss the ground you walk on” because they knew what a blessing America is.

They passed this lesson on to me.

Although many seem to think that my Palestinian heritage should cause me to align with protests that supposedly are “pro-Palestinian,” it’s precisely because of my heritage that I cannot do that.

Israel went to war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip only after Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 and kidnapped about 250 in a rampage of rape, torture, and murder Oct. 7 in southern Israel.

About 10 months later, as pro-Hamas protesters march in this country to “free Palestine,” they call for the death of America. As they burn the American flag, they burn all that my family has worked to achieve.

As the protesters pledge their allegiance to Hamas, they encourage a group that my grandmother wouldn’t hesitate to call a terrorist organization that operates with a strategy of human sacrifice.

Think about it. Why are there no Hamas military bases in the Gaza Strip adjoining Israel? Because the terrorists hide behind their own people.

They dress like noncombatants in Gaza. They establish bunkers in hospitals. They commandeer ambulances for transportation.

These actions are all in direct violation of Article 18 of the Geneva Conventions, the international pacts that set minimum standards during armed conflict for the treatment of civilians, soldiers, and prisoners of war.

One example is Hamas’ use of Gaza’s most important hospital, Al-Shifa. According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Hamas uses a bunker under the hospital as a base for military operations. This not only makes the hospital a target, but takes medical resources needed for the sick.

In contrast, the Israel Defense Forces have given civilians in Gaza opportunities to evacuate and warned of impending attacks. No other nation goes this far to protect enemy civilians.

How can I support pro-Hamas demonstrators who wish to end the nation that brought my family so much? How can I back a terrorist group that uses its own people as human shields? How can I hate Israel, when the IDF has worked to keep Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way?

I believe it’s important to point out that, contrary to popular belief, not all Arabs think the same. Some of us do see this conflict differently. And our thoughts and beliefs should not be snuffed out because they go against the “narrative.”

To some, perhaps our stance makes us walking oxymorons. But we are proud ones, nonetheless.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Fines Imposed an Kirkland Lake Men Instead of Terms,” The Porcupine Advance (Timmins). June 11, 1942. Page 2, section 1. ---- Convictions of Men Charged with Offences During the Strike Sustained but Penalties Changed. --- Haileybury, June 10 - Three of the men whose activities during the recent gold miners strike at Kirkland Lake brought them into conflict with the authorities appeared here, Monday, before Judge G. Hayward when their appeals against convictions by Magistrate S. Atkinson in Kirkland Lake court were heard.

In every case the sentence imposed by Magistrate Atkinson was reduced to a fine and costs. George Lundstrom, convicted on a charge of intimidation had his sentence reduced from two months in jail to a fine of $75 together with $75 costs. Steve Harkin, convicted of obstructing the police, will have to pay a fine of $25 with $100 costs instead of having to serve 30 days. John Brown in place of a sentence of three months will have to pay a $100 fine and costs of $75. He was convicted on a charge of intimidation.

Reviews Lundstrom Case In only one case was the evidence reviewed, that of Lundstrom. The evidence of Mrs. Joseph Gavin, who, it was alleged, had been intimidated by the accused was read to the court she being in hospital. It was to the effect that the accused had come to her home two days after the strike started and threatened her that he would "fix" her husband if he did not cease working at the Macassa Mine. The accused stayed in the house for over three hours and repeated his threats on more than one occasion. He said how sorry he was for her because of what would happen to her husband if he continued to work and that some of the men would catch him in a dark alley some night and beat him up.

Makes Denial The accused denied making these statements telling the court that in the three hours he stayed there they had talked of dances, church and the odors of cooking which percolated up to the Lundstrom flat, which was over the Gavin home. He denied any intention of "fixing" Gavin and told Crown Attorney Dean that it was the swift passage of time that made him stay in the Gavin home so long.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Hayward, after hearing arguments from both Crown Attorney Dean and J. L. Cohen, K.C., who appeared for the accused men, stated he had no hesitation in upholding the magistrate's conviction.

The question of penalty then came up Mr. Cohen held that the judge had the power to assess new penalties while Crown Attorney Dean claimed that it was not in his power to do so. Court then adjourned for the noon hour and remained adjourned for two hours afterwards while Judge Hayward took the matter into consideration and looked up the authorities.

When court reopened he states he had come to the conclusion that he had the power to assess new penalties and fixed the fine in the case.

In the Harkin case Mr. Cohen stated he had, after considering the case, no fault to find with the conviction by Magistrate Atkinson but only with the penalty and after hearing the circumstances outlined by Inspector Doyle of the Provincial Police Judge Hayward fixed the fine with the higher costs due to the presence of several police witnesses from the southern part of the province.

In the Brown case the same statement as to the conviction was made by Mr. Cohen. Crown Attorney Dean called the attention of the court to several previous convictions for various offenses. His Honor held that these showed the accused was not a law abiding citizen.

Joseph Brown, committed for trial on a willful damage charge during the strike, and who was to have appeared for trail today before Judge Hayward had his trial put over until July 6. Bail was renewed.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

EU lawmakers on Brazil's Bolsonaro: Respect vote or face sanctions

Several dozen members of the European parliament urged European Union leaders on Wednesday to monitor Brazil's Sunday election for attempts by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to subvert democracy, arguing trade sanctions should apply if he does.

Voters in Brazil head to the polls for a first-round presidential vote on Oct. 2, with leftist front-runner and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, expanding his lead over Bolsonaro in the latest polls even as fears of post-election turmoil persist.

In an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice President Josep Borrell, the Greens–European Free Alliance and some Social Democrat parliamentarians, 50 altogether, accused Bolsonaro of systematically attacking Brazil's electoral system.

Continue reading.

[decolonize-the-everything]

Article from March 2021

source on reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, reaffirmed U.S. opposition to an International Criminal Court probe of possible war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, the White House said. The call, the first between the two since Harris and President Joe Biden took office in January, came a day after the ICC prosecutor said she would launch the probe, prompting swift rejections by Washington and Jerusalem.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who will be replaced by British prosecutor Karim Khan on June 16, said in December 2019 that war crimes had been or were being committed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. She named both the Israel Defense Forces and armed Palestinian groups such as Hamas as possible perpetrators.

Harris and Netanyahu noted their governments’ "opposition to the International Criminal Court’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel," the White House said.

The two agreed to continue to cooperate on regional security issues, specifically Iran’s nuclear program and "dangerous" behavior, the White House statement said. Harris "emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security," the statement added.

Article from Feb 2024

"Speaking at this year's Munich Security Conference in Germany, Harris noted Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and increased instability and conflict in the Middle East.

[...]

"In these unsettled times, it is clear America cannot retreat," Harris said. "America must stand strong for democracy. We must stand in defense of international rules and norms. And we must stand with our allies." Harris said her address came amid questions about the future of America's role as a global leader. "These are questions that the American people must also ask ourselves: whether it is in America's interest to fight for democracy or to accept the rise of dictators and whether it is in America's interest to continue to work lockstep with our allies and partners or go it alone," she said.

Article from July 25, 2024, after the ICJ ruling on Palestine and after ICC applications for Netanyahu's arrest as a war criminal were posted

Vice President Kamala Harris today met with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel at the White House. The Vice President reiterated her longstanding and unwavering commitment to the security of the State of Israel and the people of Israel. They discussed the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to ensure Israel can defend itself from threats from Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and the importance of combatting the rise in Antisemitism globally. The Vice President again condemned Hamas as a brutal terrorist organization as well as individuals associating with Hamas, noting that pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and must not be tolerated.

Article from July 25, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed instances of “despicable acts” and “dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric” after Wednesday’s demonstration in D.C., in which thousands converged to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit and the ongoing war in Gaza. Throngs of demonstrators descended on the capital’s Union Station as Netanyahu addressed Congress, calling for an end to the war that Gaza health authorities say has killed more than 40,000 people

You are not pushing her left. Nobody is.

This February she was at the Munich Security Conference in Germany giving war criminals a morale boost.

After protests even after people had self immolated; although Aaron Bushnell hadn't by that event yet.

But the fact that it happened just a short 2 weeks later and she still supports Israel today? The fact she's reaffirming her support as she runs for president and wants us to give her the power to enable a certified war criminal?

Nobody is pushing her left. People died! They're still dying! Theyre setting themselves on fire, and she doesn't care.

All the hope in the world won't make that untrue.

No amount of peaceful protests or voting blue has saved anyone and Kamala will not be the exception. She's perfectly content with genocide and war crimes despite all her pretending to care about marginalized people and our oppression.

[mesetacadre]

Regarding your post on Stalin and Lenin, I want to ask in good faith: how can honest Communists, in good conscience, acknowledge the material harm and the death tolls of the deportations of the Crimean Tatars, Soviet Koreans, and Chechens + Ingush carried out by Stalin's administration?

I at least understand why Marxist-Leninists dispute calling the Holodomor and Kazakh famines genocides, on the grounds that they came about as a mix of failed policy, bad weather, and unintended consequences.

However, while Stalin's influence on the Famines is debatable, allowing the deportations to be carried out (which DO constitute a genocide) must certainly fall on his head. This is doubly so because Lavrentiy Beria - the principal architect of the Crimean Tatar and Chechen deportations - was a close ally of Stalin.

A big reason I ask this is because I frequently see other communists either gloss over the material harm of these deportations, or treat them as a regrettable footnote in an otherwise proud career. I find both approaches problematic, because I do not see them as an honest assessment of Stalin's wrongdoing with regards to ethnic minorities within the Soviet Union.

I thank you for your time, and I look forward to reading your assessment, should you chose to answer it. Have a good day.

[context]

I'll get to the ask itself in a moment, but first I want to point out how you're doing exactly what the post you're replying to is criticizing, how every mistake and imperfect policy of the USSR between 1924 and 1953 is scapegoated to Stalin. You're ignoring both the very important structures of democracy and accountability within the party as well as in the administration of the state. He wasn't a dictator and policy was not a direct extension of the man's thoughts. The party leadership was a collective organ made up of at least a dozen people, of which Stalin was simply the chairman, with the same vote as everyone else. And every single one of these members were beholden to democratic recall at any time.

Let's start on the common ground, we understand that the famine which struck Ukraine, southern Russia and western Kazakhstan in the early 1930s has a context of cyclical famines, grain hoarding, rushed collectivization, and bad weather. There has been a strong effort on the part of capitalist powers to both exaggerate the effects of the famine and to place it all with intent to exterminate Ukranians specifically. The policy of collectivization and antagonism towards the grain-hoarding rich peasants was one approved by and carried out by hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions. We can debate the degree of maliciousness, the severity of its effects, etc. But what is indisputable once you know just a little of how the USSR worked, to pretend that it could all be carried out by Stalin's sole will is absurd.

And what is the context of the deportations? The fascist invasion of the USSR. This is an extraordinary circumstance, every facet of the USSR was being attacked and threatened with sabotage. It wasn't even the first time they had had to deal with internal sabotage, like it was revealed in the trials following the assassination of Kirov. Throughout the 30s, Nazi Germany's strongarm diplomacy was practically enabled by their ability to create fifth columns, to instigate conflict and to infiltrate. They were in the process of setting up a coup d'etat in Lithuania when, with only a week to spare, it was voted that Lithuania would join the USSR. So, the fear that, as the front advanced, the nazis would do everything in their power to turn the tapestry of nationalities close to the front against the USSR, wasn't only unfounded, it was certain. Fascists are also quite famously brutal against the minorities in the territories they conquered. Their modus operandi whenever they captured a population was to kill any elected leaders and start to instigate anti-semitism.

This was the rationale that drove the policy of resettlement. It was a rushed wartime decision, such was the context, and people definitely died unnecessarily in transport. They decided that the negative consequences of resettlement outweighed the risk of sabotage, destroyed supply lines, and of a completely certain brutal destiny for these minorities if the front advanced past them. It was not a genocide, and it had nothing to do with whatever personal relationship you think Stalin had with Beria. (As a tangent, in this interview, Stalin's bodyguard said that Beria was "neither his [Stalin's] right hand man or left hand man"). I reiterate though, the personal relationships of one man did not dictate the policy decided on democratically by the CPSU.

I don't see the problem in understanding the context of these decisions and understanding the rationale behind them without kneejerking into discounting Stalin's competency. It's very easy to criticize a decision with 80 years of hindsight, without the pressure of the largest land invasion ever carried out advancing steadily. You can't understand the policies of a country containing hundreds of millions of people and hundreds of nationalities through the lens of a single man's personal failings, especially in wartime. Admitting these mistakes, but understanding the context in which they were made, is the only way to learn from other attempts at developing socialism. What is not productive is to insist on pinning every mistake, every unnecessary pain, every inefficiency, as the wrongdoings of a single man. It's dishonest to both the past, and to how communists organize today.

[the-bibrarian]

Paris, yesterday (03/23/23). This is an excerpt from a video by journalist Amar Taoualit posted on twitter

This is what they’re doing to a peaceful, registered-with-the-proper-authorities march.

You can hear protesters shouting “children! there are children!” and “that’s my grandfather! my grandfather is on the ground!”

I think some families felt safe going because traditionally, union-backed, “registered” marches are peaceful and the riot police waits until they officially end, when only the more radical protesters are left, to attack. Not saying that is fine, but there was a tacit agreement for peace during the first hours of a protest. (That’s exactly what happened in Lyon yesterday, and there were also a few kids among protesters. It ended up being fine but it made me very anxious to see them, and it looks like I was right to worry.)

Things turned extremely violent in the night. I don’t feel like chronicling it, but suffice to say there were more that 900 fires in Paris. I don’t know what to think of the overwhelming silence from international media on the subject.

Anyway, I know that in principle we should all be able to protest and the police shouldn’t attack, and we’re supposed to be a democracy and we shouldn’t bow down to wanna-be autocrats that want to suppress our voices, etc.

La réalité c’est que pour quelques temps en tout cas, il faut laisser nos enfants à la maison, et que si vous êtes âgé, malade (asthmatique !), déjà blessé, personne handicapée, etc. il vaut peut-être mieux passer votre tour pour ces manifs-là. Il y a d’autres façons d’agir.

Notamment, je suis sûre que les syndicats ont besoin d’aide logistique et d’argent, et LFI, dont les députés sont sur le terrain, sur les piquets de grève, a certainement toujours besoin de plus de militants (j’ai pas ma carte chez eux pour être claire, mais je pense que c’est le parti qui soutient le plus sincèrement le mouvement).

Les députés LFI Louis Boyard (au centre) et Carlos Martens Bilongo (à droite), dans une manifestation le 20 mars. Photo de @teamroscoes (merci !!)

La député LFI Mathilde Panot au piquet de grève des éboueurs de Vitry-sur-Seine le 16 mars (photo de son twitter)

^ these are pictures of lawmakers from the leftist France Unbowed party participating in protests.