#Miners for Democracy

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"PORCUPINE MINERS VOTE FOR STRIKE," Cobalt Daily Nugget. November 15, 1912. Page 1 & 3. --- General Strike is Called Over Question of Wage Reduction ---- The miners of the Porcupine camp at the close of the counting of yesterday's ballot, the result of an all day poll, were found to have voted solid for a general strike throughout the camp.

The men are already called out and in a day or two there will be practically no work in operation in the camp except that being performed by prospectors and claim holders, who are not connected with organized companies. The strike comes as a severe blow to the camp. Porcupine had just reached the period when it had practically recovered fully from the effects of the fire of the summer of 1911. The Hollinger mine has just reached the dividend paying basis and had announced that this dividend would be kept up at the rate of three percent every four weeks. Other dividend declarations were expected soon but unless some solution of the present trouble is discovered the conditions now prevailing in the camp all of an optimistic to be - will be sadly changes.

The origin of the strike just called dates back a number of weeks. The mines in the Pearl Lake section of the camp gave the required notice that they would reduce the wages to conform with those paid in other parts of the camp. This change affected the men at the Plenaurum, Jupiter, Pearl Lake, McIntyre, McEnaney and Vinond mines. The matter was immediately taken up by the miners union and a board of conciliation was appointed by the Government to adjust the difficulties. The board consisted of Sec. Thompson of the Porcupine local, Prof. H. E. T. Haultain and Peter McDonald, of Woodstock. After protracted sittings this board failed to arrive at an agreement. The matter then went to the department of labor and since then matters have dragged along until the vote of yesterday

About 1000 men are out on strike. These may be enumerated among the principal mines of the camp as follows: Jupiter 25. Pearl Lake 20 at resent, Plenaurum, 30, McIntyre 60 it present, underground operations being held up for mill, McEnaney 80, Hollinger 300, Vipond 50, Dome 300, Dome Lake 60, Dome Extension 25. Hughes 10, Three Nations 20, Porcupine Lake 50, Hollinger Reserve 50 and Krist 10. Other smaller properties are also affected the total thus being made up to about 1000 including every union man in the camp and a number who are not members of the union.

The miners give the returns from the conciliation board as the reason for the strike. They claim that the schedule in force in Porcupine has been the same as the union schedule in Cobalt, although this schedule is not in effect everywhere in Cobalt. A notice of the proposed reduction in wages was not satisfactory to the employes and the matter was refer red to the board mentioned above and its report as returned from the department was unsatisfactory to members of the union. It was put to a referendum vote and it was unanimously decided to go out.

Some of the mine managers state that while the new scale adopted was 25 cents in advance of the average wages in the Cobalt camp with a little extra charge for board, there will be no compromise with the men and that the only terms that will now be agreed to will be those in force in Cobalt. Some of the mines had added small forces getting workmen up from the south in anticipation of the trouble.

[deception-united]

Worldbuilding: Questions to Consider

Government & authority:

Types of government: What type of government exists (monarchy, democracy, theocracy, etc.)? Is it centralised or decentralised?

Leadership: Who holds power and how is it acquired (inheritance, election, divine right, conquest)?

Law enforcement: Who enforces the laws (military, police, magical entities)?

Legal system: How are laws made, interpreted, and enforced? Are there courts, judges, or councils?

Laws:

Criminal laws: What constitutes a crime? What are the punishments?

Civil laws: How are disputes between individuals resolved?

Cultural norms: How do customs and traditions influence the laws?

Magic/supernatural: Are there laws governing the use of magic or interaction with supernatural beings?

Social structure:

Class/status: How is society divided (nobility, commoners, slaves)? Are there caste systems or social mobility?

Rights & freedoms: What rights do individuals have (speech, religion, property)?

Discrimination: Are there laws that protect or discriminate against certain groups (race, gender, species, culture)?

Economy & trade:

Currency: What is used as currency? Is it standardised?

Trade laws: Are there regulations on trade, tariffs, or embargoes?

Property laws: How is ownership determined and transferred? Are there inheritance laws?

Religion/belief systems:

Religious authority: What role does religion play in governance? Are religious leaders also political leaders?

Freedom of religion: Are citizens free to practice different religions? If not, which are taboo?

Holy laws: Are there laws based on religious texts or teachings?

Military & defense:

Standing army: Is there a professional military or a militia? Who serves, and how are they recruited?

War & peace: What are the laws regarding war, peace treaties, and diplomacy?

Weapons: Are there restrictions or laws regarding weapons for civilians? What is used as a weapon? Who has access to them?

Technology & magic:

Technological advancements: How advanced is the technology (medieval, steampunk, futuristic, etc.)?

Magical laws: Are there regulations on the use of magic, magical creatures, or artifacts?

Innovation & research: How are inventors and researchers treated? Are there laws protecting intellectual property?

Environmental/resource management:

Natural resources: How are resources like water, minerals, and forests managed and protected, if at all?

Environmental laws: Are there protections for the environment? How are they enforced? Are there consequences for violations?

Cultural & ethical considerations:

Cultural diversity: How does the law accommodate or suppress cultural diversity?

Ethics: What are the ethical foundations of the laws? Are there philosophical or moral principles that underpin them?

Traditions vs. change: Does the society balance tradition with progress? How?

Happy writing ❤

Previous | Next

[duckiemimi]

western intervention, seen and unseen, is the greatest tool in stirring destabilization within regions of potential capital. it’s done under the guise of “democracy and development towards civility,” but really, it’s all a major venture to monopolize—kill, steal, corner: profit.

the struggles of all marginalized peoples are interconnected, so truly, liberation for Palestine is a step in the direction towards liberation for everyone. this includes liberation for Sudan, who despite its crisis, hasn’t been covered much in the media. this includes liberation for Congo, who is also going through its own genocide, all for the sake of minerals.

don’t take my word for it—please seek information and speak on what you know. the enemy of fascism and its propaganda is the thirst for knowledge and knowledge itself.

[read-marx-and-lenin]

During 1935 and 1936 a new form of shock-work has developed in the form of “Stakhanovism.” In essence it is a very simple story. A certain coal-miner, by the name of Stakhanov, working in a pit in the Donets Basin in the Ukraine, reorganized the work of the group of which he was leader, so that output was greatly increased. His pit newspaper gave the matter publicity, it was taken up as a “scoop” by other newspapers — for the U.S.S.R. needs coal — and the rationalization proposals of Stakhanov became known throughout the world. Many managers and engineers did not approve of Stakhanovism, for two main reasons. First, they felt that the wholesale reorganization of methods of work was their job, not that of the rank-and-file miners. The Soviet Government Press, however, immediately attacked such a view, pointing out that the welfare of the U.S.S.R. depends on the maximum expression of personal initiative by all workers. Secondly, in certain cases the managers and technicians objected to workers reorganizing their methods of work, because their wages then rose considerably above those of the technical and managerial staff! This attitude was also attacked in the Press, and the Stakhanov movement has spread throughout the country. The Stakhanov movement, and the publicity and encouragement given to Stakhanov and his followers, stimulates every worker, however unskilled, to become a rationalizer, an organizer of his or her own labor. In this way every worker feels encouraged to utilize brain as well as hand. Large numbers of workers become more skilled and earn higher wages. There is a general rise in both material and cultural standards as a result. Further, the leading Stakhanov workers themselves are asked to become teachers of their methods. Stakhanov has been invited back to his native village, to use his organizing power to raise production in the collective farm. He also spends much time visiting different coal-mines, teaching the workers there how to reorganize their work for greater efficiency. A rank-and-file miner has become a technical expert and an engineer. And this is happening all the time in the Soviet Union today, affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

Pat Sloan, Soviet Democracy, 1937

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazilian Amazon Leader Urges Lula to Prosecute Bolsonaro for Genocide Against Indigenous Yamomami

The new Brazilian government recently conducted operations to expel thousands of illegal gold miners from Indigenous Yanomami land in the Amazon rainforest. The miners have caused a humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami who have suffered from severe malnutrition and illness from illegal mining operations that have polluted rivers and destroyed forests. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently accused Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right government of committing genocide against the Yanomami people. Bolsonaro, who is expected to return to Brazil from Florida next month, could face genocide charges for his actions. Democracy Now! spoke to Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a leader and shaman for the Yanomami people, while he was in Washington, D.C., last week. Yanomami says he supports the prosecution of Bolsonaro.

Watch the video.

[georgefairbrother]

According to The Herald Scotland, housing was of particular interest to Peggy Herbison, and was a key aspect of her 'forceful' maiden speech to the Commons;

"...I knew beforehand that our housing conditions were very bad, but it was not until I made the survey that I found that those conditions were as dreadful as they could possibly be...We have people who have been living in a room in somebody else’s house for 14 years—living, eating, sleeping, bearing and rearing children in one room that is not even their own room. These conditions very often lead to unhappiness and to ill-health among the children...Until a few weeks ago, in a miners’ row, there was a room and kitchen with no modern conveniences, and a miner and his family lived in the kitchen, and another miner and his family lived in the room. A man, woman and five children lived in the room, the walls of which were continually dripping with damp. At night the mother had to roll out mattresses on the floor for her children to sleep on...In many parts of my constituency and, I expect, in many parts of Great Britain, there are people living in houses in which the Minister of Health or the Minister of Agriculture would not allow cattle to live..."

She resigned from the Wilson front bench in 1967, over her lack of success in forcing through increases in pensions and child benefits.

She was subsequently voted 'Scotswoman of the Year' by readers of the Glasgow Evening Times.

Margaret McCrorie (Peggy) Herbison was born this week (March 11th) in 1907. 

She was the daughter of a coalminer and studied at the University of Glasgow. Having worked as a school teacher, she was elected MP for North Lanarkshire in the Labour landslide of 1945. 

She later served on Labour’s National Executive Committee, and as Minister for Pensions and National Insurance and Minister for Social Security under Harold Wilson (1964-67). 

She retired from politics in 1970, and died in 1996

[tobiasdrake]

Going underground now for the dwarven origins, beginning with Dwarf Noble. Let's hit up Orzammar, one of the last two surviving dwarven thaigs in Thedas.

So, right from the get-go, we have the Dwarven Faith codex entry. Dwarves consider themselves "Children of the Stone", which we now know to be literally true. They were born of the Titans.

Dwarves believe that they return to "the Stone" upon death. They practice ancestor worship, believing that their ancestors guide them through the unfolding of events.

Orzammar's best known for its Caste system, by which people are grouped into particular professions by blood inheritance. Wanted to be a soldier? Can't. You were born into Merchant Caste. Learn commerce.

There's something truly ironic about dwarven culture, in that regard. The Divine Right is so thoroughly baked into every orifice of their society. Merit defined solely by blood inheritance governs all walks of life.

Except the monarchy. (XD)

The King of Orzammar is an elected position accountable to the Assembly. Orzammar isn't a true democracy; The deshyrs who sit in the Assembly are all representatives specifically for noble families who do pass down power by blood inheritance. But it's still kind of amazing, in this culture, that being the child of the king doesn't entitle you to jack fucking shit.

Orzammar is a self-defeating paradox of a place. This is no less true of the ruling House Aeducan than of anyone else.

The Dwarf Noble draws their lineage from House Aeducan. Their governance dates back to the First Blight in 7205.

The irony of the Aeducan clan is that, despite Orzammar leadership thinking the Caste system is neato, their millennium-long monarchy didn't come from a Noble Caste family at all. One of the many contradictions that Orzammar politely ignores.

Originally, the other surviving thaig Kal-Sharok was the capitol of Dwarven civilization. Orzammar belonged to the Miner and Smith Castes. This would have been the state of affairs for between 3,000-6,000 years. Could even be longer.

The Veilguard timeline is a little fuzzy on when, exactly, the Evanuris tranquilized the Titans and inadvertently created both Blight and Dwarf. But Kal-Sharok was the capitol of the burgeoning Dwarven civilization until the developed trade relationships with the Tevinter Imperium, which would only be established in 6405 and would reign unchecked for about 800 years before the First Blight.

Somewhere in that 800 year period, Orzammar became the capitol in place of Kal-Sharok. This was done by Paragon Garal to give the Assembly more oversight over their trade relations.

For context, Tevinter had a trade highway that ran from their capitol Minrathous through the Frostback Mountains and down to southern Ostagar. We'll see more of that later. Since Orzammar is right up on the edge of the surface and even has a passage that opens out into the Frostback Mountains, it's perfectly positioned for trade with Tevinter.

This was kind of a big deal. So, centuries before the Blight, Paragon Garal moved the capitol away from the thaig that had been their capitol for millennia. Trade became a cornerstone of dwarven society.

Too bad about those dwarven traders though.

The paradox of Dwarven politics at work has decreed that dwarves automatically become Casteless if they ever go up to the surface. This is despite Orzammar being a centuries-long trading hub that's even more dependent on trade now that the Darkspawn have eaten the rest of dwarven civilization.

This is a point of contention within Orzammar, as Lord Dace here is attempting to change dwarven law so that

House Aeducan rose to power following Paragon Aeducan, though Aeducan was no Noble Caste dwarf. The way Paragons work is basically Dwarven Sainthood. The dwarves recognize you as a shining example for all dwarves to follow.

With the knock-on effect that Paragon-hood uplifts your family into Noble Caste.

So we should all obey the Nobles because their blood-inheritance says they know better than us. But also, anyone who knows better than the Nobles is made nobility so that we can continue to believe that the Nobles know better than everyone else. Make sense?

Aeducan was a Warrior Caste soldier on that fateful day. You know the day.

The day the Evanuris tricked the Magisters Sidereal into breaching the Black City and unleashing the Blight.

The dwarves and the surfacers disagree on how that happened.

The human Chantry believes that the Darkspawn came from the Black City in the Fade. They were a plague unleashed upon humankind as punishment for the Magisters Sidereal's hubris.

The dwarves disagree. They believe that the Darkspawn came from the depths of the earth. This is a practical belief rooted in the demonstrable fact that they emerged from the Deep Roads and overran dwarven civilization long before the surface had even heard of them.

They're both right. It was the Magisters Sidereal who breached the Blight's containment and released it into the world. It then poured upwards from the depths, possibly from the Titans themselves. Under the guidance of Dirthamen and his Archdemon Dumat - colliding with the Titans' children in the population centers they had built.

In fact, Paragon Aeducan even laid eyes upon Dumat once, describing her (high dragons are female, the mythology of the Old Gods is wrong) in the codex entry "The Blights" as a Paragon of darkspawn.

Can you imagine? The dwarves had never in history laid eyes on a dragon before Dumat. Aeducan had no idea what he was looking at. Only that it was terrifying.

No one had ever heard of the Blight until the day it crashed into the dwarven thaigs on its way to the surface, under the command of whatever this fucking thing is. A crisis the likes of which dwarven culture was not equipped to handle.

The loss of thaig after thaig after thaig was a failure of leadership. The dwarves were powerless to defend themselves because their leaders were too busy bickering in the Assembly over who to defend. Every noble house demanded the army protect their holdings above all others, leaving their military divided, aimless, and unable to stop as the Blight swept through them all.

The selfishness of nobility destroyed dwarven civilization.

Orzammar survived only because Aeducan sidestepped the politics and took charge of the army. He rallied the various Castes to provide support to the Warrior Caste, betrayed the dwarves' sacred hierarchy by disregarding the noble Assembly, and saved Orzammar. The last of the thaigs. (Except the other one.)

A vote was held in the wake of Orzammar's survival to determine if Aeducan should be made a Paragon. History recalls it passing with no dissenting votes, only one absentia. History does not recall, though the historian mentions in conversation, how the "absentia" vote came about: It was a vote of dissension, but the other deshyrs beating the dissenting deshyr to death on the Assembly floor for dissenting.

Politics!

This is how it goes. On paper, Paragons are a patch built into the system to ensure that the best and brightest may lead the dwarven people. In practice, Paragons introduce a whole mess of complications, which meet you the instant you step out of the Dwarven Palace and into the Diamond Quarter.

This is Bruntin Vollney and Scholar Gertek. Right outside the palace, they're having a public argument because Bruntin wants public records of Paragon Vollney being kind of a shitweasel stricken from history.

Vollney became Paragon by the slimmest possible margin and their ascension was mired in scandals, with rumors abounding of bribes, corruption, and blackmail. All of which is recorded accurately by history, much to Bruntin's dismay. He wants the truth wiped from the slate.

Because that's how nobility under the Paragon system works. When the ruling class derives power solely by historical remembrance of past merits, it creates a perverse incentive to only remember history in ways that are convenient to the ruling class.

In practice, the system uses Paragonhood as a built-in defense against having to reflect on the failures of their politics. Aeducan betrayed what the dwarves stand for and saved Orzammar where dwarven politics left nearly all other thaigs annihilated. For his radical actions and insubordinate heroics, they elected him King. They raised him up to Paragon status. And they learned absolutely nothing.

Oh, and they killed an Assembly member for disagreeing. Dwarven nobles are cutthroat. Just. As a natural order of business. Everyone expects treachery and murder in the noble class. Remember Vollney? If you side with the scholar against him, Gorim asks you this as a matter of course.

"Yeah, fuck that guy. Want me to have him killed in broad... whatever passes for daylight in our society?"

Sure, Gorim. I want him slit from crotch to throat and hung from a light fixture as a warning to others 'cause that's how dwarf politics work. You're the best, sugar 'stache.

Up to this point, they remain on the throne. King Endrin Aeducan is the governing monarch as of the start of Origins. With three heirs to succeed him: The eldest Trian Aeducan, the Dwarf Noble, and the radical youngest Bhelen Aeducan who fraternizes with Casteless.

Hi, Rica! She's just called "Mistress" in the Dwarf Noble origin but she's a part of the Dwarf Commoner origin. Bhelen is quite taken with her, despite their relationship being considered pearl-clutchingly scandalous by Orzammar standards.

Trian, by contrast, is a proper upstanding dwarven noble.

By which I mean he's a classist piece of shit. Trian is first in line for the throne (pending Assembly vote), which he knows quite well. And at any sign of disobedience from his sibling, he'll make sure the Dwarf Noble knows it too.

Trian also has opinions about Bhelen's dalliances with Rica. In his journal, he's noticed Rica milling about outside of Bhelen's room. So he accuses her of theft because her boobs are too big to be a "decent" woman's bust. And I quote.

"Must have been trying to steal something, or already had. Bosom seemed fuller than most decent ladies. Some jewels hidden in the bodice?"

What the actual fuck, Trian? He also suggests Bhelen should keep her confined to his room, like a pet.

Trian is a cruel, elitist, self-important piece of shit who would most certainly drive Orzammar to ruin if he became king.

The part where Bhelen frames the Dwarf Noble for committing the murder is a bit rude, however. Credit where it's due, though; Bhelen plans this assassination well.

He first tries to conspire with the Dwarf Noble by convincing them that Trian is plotting against them, and they need to get him first. Then he plants two of his men in the Deep Roads to accompany the Noble on their mission.

If you didn't buy into the idea that Trian was coming for you, Bhelen has Trian killed ahead of time and lets you find his body, just in time for you to be found with the body.

If you did, he plays you and Trian against each other, informing Trian that you were plotting to kill him and letting accusations and unreasonable tempers fly where they may.

If you still manage to be reasonable during that, one of his men has orders to open fire on Trian and his men, provoking a fight anyway. Bhelen's accounted for all possible scenarios here. It's very clever. Ruthless, pragmatic, and treacherous. But clever.

No matter which way you slice it, Bhelen cuts down both of his siblings and leaves himself and his radical politics as the (seeming) only potential heir to the throne of Orzammar. He planned his coup exceedingly well.

Though not so well that it escaped Lord Harrowmont's notice, but that is the plot for the Orzammar section of the main game proper.

[noahshy09]

"This day is no different to me. What was will always be in America." -Anonymous

And that is more and more the understanding I have when observing the divisive rhetoric and confrontational banter espoused by the mediums-at-large. I look at policies and what I see disturbs me. This nation, and the people therein deserve better than "not as bad as the other guy" representation.

The election in general makes little difference for the people on the ground. One oppressive regime traded for the next is not my idea of a representative democracy. Disenfranchisement of the population has been the norm, as has the destructive imperialistic acquisition of resources and puppet nations. Ore miners in the Midwest are breaking their backs for steel and are misrepresented, at the same time cobalt mined by African orphans fuels the tech advances of our military industrial complex.

I vote because I want things to be different, but I don't engage with the politics. Although with our current regime I fear for the protection of women, minorities, and underrepresented people groups in an increasing manner. An all-red government is crazy.

[severalowls]

-----

[I can't drown this post as I'm on desktop]

Maybe THE most unhinged conspiratorial liberal post I've seen on here in a while. When I saw the screenshot I was sure liberalsarecool would be taking the piss out of it given their ok record on some other things, but no apparently they and those reblogging from them either actually believe this shit.

Trump is not threating the sovereignty of other nations because "Russia Made Him Do It", he's doing it because it benefits his vision for the United States of America.

Greenland is refusing international mining rights to rare minerals on their territory, including the US. Trump wants the US to profit from those. Canada is the least "serious" threat but this is a matter of feeling entitled to territory and desiring control over a nation which has given even the slightest pushback to his own ambitions. Panama is charging the US the same rates as everybody else to make use of their canal and Trump sees this as a huge money saver. This is the greedy musings of a man chomping at the bit to be in power again, knowing damn well his own people are either all for it, indifferent, or incapable of putting up any resistance. And those who do care think this is all apparently in aid of... Laundering somebody else's image? At his own expense?

When the US does something outwardly evil, that is not a Russian Plot, that is the US doing something outwardly evil for themselves. It's not all a grand conspiracy that absolves your own nation and the people who elected this man. I'm sorry that you'll have to come to terms with that. The US is not some shining beacon of democracy being undermined by one man in the name of another nation, it just sucks that badly, fundamentally, and framing your politics around some core identity of the USA as a noble project is an ideological cul-de-sac that leads you straight back to the nationalist belief system that sparked this bullshit in the first place.

[petervintonjr]

"Most of all, I want the work I may do in the years to come --if the years are granted me-- to be critically sound."

Meet Washington, D.C.'s own Otelia Cromwell, scholar, professor, and long-term inspiration to many. Born in 1874 into a time when the nation's capital boasted the singular (and unusual) highest percentage of educated African Americans in all of the United States; an uncharacteristic atmosphere of relative social equality among Free Blacks and recently-freed Blacks, where great cultural emphasis was placed on literacy --the city was then known as the capital of "Colored Aristocracy." Otelia was born to Lucy McGuinn and John Wesley Cromwell, the first of six children. John Wesley was himself a lawyer, educator, and journalist who instilled in his eldest daughter the values of education as the best path to one's own personal and economic power. John Wesley was a founding member of the Bethel Literary and Historical Association, a forum which boasted W.E.B. Du Bois (see Lesson #1 in this series) and Frederick Douglass (Lesson #2) as occasional guest speakers. With a childhood steeped in this kind of exposure, it is little surprise that Otelia took the risk of transferring from Howard University to Smith College (already a prestigious liberal arts college for women), where she excelled in classical studies and from which she eventually graduated in 1900 --making her its first-ever Black woman to matriculate. She pivoted easily into an education career of her own, teaching language studies at the famed M Street School (see Lessons #138 and #145 in this series for more on this particular institution), but eventually turned her attention to postgraduate studies --a brave act in itself given the entrenched segregated systems that surrounded her.

In 1910, Otelia Cromwell first earned her Master's degree from Columbia University, and then in 1926 attained a Ph.D in English from Yale --the first-ever Black woman to earn a doctorate degree from that school. In 1930 she returned to her beloved District of Columbia as a professor of English Language and Literature, at Miner Teachers College (which would later become the University of the District of Columbia); and she herself rose to chair of the literature department. She taught at Miner until her retirement in 1944; editing and publishing many studies during her time there --significantly Readings From Negro Authors for Schools and Colleges (1931), which she co-edited with Du Bois. In 1958 the Harvard University Press published her definitive scholarly work; a study of the life and achievements of Quaker abolitionist and activist Lucretia Mott.

Cromwell's choice of Mott as her subject was no whim; she had long studied Mott's role in shaping women's rights; openly noting the paradox of a nation that paid lip-service to democracy and social equality, but yet demanded a segregated Armed Forces. In many ways Cromwell foresaw the civil rights movements of the 1960's, confidently predicting that her own students would soon find in themselves the strength and perseverance to effect substantive change. Cromwell died in 1972 at the age of 98. In 1989 Smith College instituted the tradition of Cromwell Day; a celebration of Otelia's determined life of quiet but firm barrier-breaking. This day expanded to also include the achievements of Otelia's niece (and fellow Smith alum) Adelaide Cromwell, who would eventually be the first Black professor to be appointed at Smith. The Day is devoted to exploring community partnerships and individual responsibilities to better identify --and address-- structural racism and intrinsic oppression.

[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.

[blackpilledkremlintsarina5294]

THE REAL REASON THE US🇺🇸 ARMS UKRAINE🇺🇦:

‘They’re sitting on a trillion dollars of minerals that could be good for our economy’

-Republican Senator Lindsey Graham

They aren’t interested in freedom, democracy, or even sovereignty…they’re interested in disaster capitalism to privatise and rob Ukraine’s mineral resources.

[stele3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-launches-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-attack-ukraine-kyiv-says-2024-11-21/

[read-marx-and-lenin]

It is not every worker in the Soviet factory or collective farm who wants either to go to a university, or to convert some amateur activity into a full-time profession. There are hundreds of thousands of workers greatly interested in the particular jobs which they are at present doing, but who want advancement to more skilled or more responsible branches of the same work. Such advancement is possible in all Soviet enterprises. A characteristic of every Soviet institution is the stress which is laid on the desirability for every working man and woman to raise their qualifications at their work. Whether it is a case of teachers in an elementary school or university, or workers at machines in a factory, or typists in an office, there are always available the means of further education, through evening classes free of charge. And in all this a leading part is played by the best workers in the enterprise, who often undertake voluntarily to train other workers up to their own level. When, in 1935, the coal-miner Stakhanov became famous all over the world as the young man who in a six-hour shift had doubled output and had at the same time received a tremendous rise in earnings as a result, many people outside the U.S.S.R. asked the question: “Does this not mean that a new privileged category of workers will arise, having a monopoly of the jobs which earn high wages?” To those who were living in the U.S.S.R. at the time, this question appeared singularly divorced from real life, for in his spare time this same coal-miner Stakhanov was going round his own and other pits training the workers there to use his methods and to become more efficient organizers of their work, raising earnings accordingly. In this way leading workers in the U.S.S.R. train others up to their own level. From the point of view of the ordinary worker this means that, in every sphere of work, the most highly skilled are willing helpers and trainers. Every working man and woman has the opportunity to learn to improve technique at the job, with the expert assistance of those who are best at that kind of work. Obviously, such a system is itself dependent on certain economic conditions! Leading workers in the U.S.S.R. would not be so willing to train others up to their own level of efficiency if, as in Britain today, they thought they might be replaced by these other workers as soon as they had trained them. Full co-operation on the part of all the skilled workers in a community in training others to their own level of skill can only be obtained in a society in which there is no unemployment, and where every sort of skilled work is in demand. In the U.S.S.R. there has been no unemployment since 1931, and there is a demand for every kind of qualified worker. It is in such circumstances that the skilled worker knows that by training others he is not endangering his own security, and that the community as a whole, and he as a member of it, will gain from a greater supply of skilled workers and the products of their labor.

Pat Sloan, Soviet Democracy, 1937

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s Lula Made Progress on Deforestation, but “Agribusiness Is Winning”

“Members of the agrarian caucus vote together…This gives them immense leverage.”

When Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January 2023, he inherited environmental protection agencies in shambles and deforestation at a 15-year high. His predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had dismantled regulations and gutted institutions tasked with enforcing environmental laws. Lula set out to reverse these policies and to put Brazil on a path to end deforestation by 2030. 

Environmental protection agencies have been allowed to resume their work. Between January and November of 2023, the government issued 40 percent more infractions against illegal deforestation in the Amazon when compared to the same period in 2022, when Bolsonaro was still in office. Lula’s government has confiscated and destroyed heavy equipment used by illegal loggers and miners, and placed embargoes on production on illegally cleared land. Lula also reestablished the Amazon Fund, an international pool of money used to support conservation efforts in the rainforest. Just this week, at the G20 Summit, outgoing US President Joe Biden pledged $50 million to the fund.  

Indeed, almost two years into Lula’s administration, the upward trend in deforestation has been reversed. In 2023, deforestation rates fell by 62 percent in the Amazon and 12 percent in Brazil overall (though deforestation in the Cerrado, Brazil’s tropical savannas, increased). So far in 2024, deforestation in the Amazon has fallen by another 32 percent. 

Throughout this year, Brazilians also bore witness to the effects of climate change in a new way. In May, unprecedented floods in the south of the country impacted over 2 million people, displacing hundreds of thousands and leaving at least 183 dead. Other regions are now into their second year of extreme drought, which led to yet another intense wildfire season. In September, São Paulo and Brasília were shrouded in smoke coming from fires in the Amazon and the Cerrado.  

And yet, despite the government’s actions, environmental protections and Indigenous rights are still under threat. Lula is governing alongside the most pro-agribusiness congress in Brazilian history, which renders his ability to protect Brazil’s forests and Indigenous peoples in the long term severely constrained. 

“I do believe that the Lula administration really cares about climate change,” said Belen Fernandez Milmanda, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Trinity College and author of Agrarian Elites and Democracy in Latin America. “But on the other side, part of their governing coalition is also the agribusiness, and so far I feel like the agribusiness is winning.”

Continue reading.

[a-typical]

Distraught cancer victims make pilgrimages to the Philippines, where 'psychic surgeons', having palmed bits of chicken liver or goat heart, pretend to reach into the patient's innards and withdraw the diseased tissue, which is then triumphantly displayed.

Leaders of western democracies regularly consult astrologers and mystics before making decisions of state.

Under public pressure for results, police with an unsolved murder or a missing body on their hands consult ESP 'experts' (who never guess better than expected by common sense, but the police, the ESPers say, keep calling).

A clairvoyance gap with adversary nations is announced, and the Central Intelligence Agency, under Congressional prodding, spends tax money to find out whether submarines in the ocean depths can be located by thinking hard at them.

A 'psychic', using pendulums over maps and dowsing rods in airplanes, purports to find new mineral deposits.

An Australian mining company pays him top dollars up front, none of it returnable in the event of failure, and a share in the exploitation of ores in the event of success. Nothing is discovered.

Statues of Jesus or murals of Mary are spotted with moisture, and thousands of kind-hearted people convince themselves that they have witnessed a miracle.

These are all cases of proved or presumptive baloney. A deception arises, sometimes innocently but collaboratively, sometimes with cynical premeditation. Usually the victim is caught up in a powerful emotion - wonder, fear, greed, grief. Credulous acceptance of baloney can cost you money; that's what P.T. Barnum meant when he said, 'There's a sucker born every minute'. But it can be much more dangerous than that, and when governments and societies lose the capacity for critical thinking, the results can be catastrophic.

— The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan (1996)