Politics

Dear Russell, First, how do I come to be reading your book, Revolution? I have spent the past 30 years arguing the point whenever and however I could, that world capitalism has to be ended. Not just in its most excessive manifestations, not just when it is run for private corporations and shareholders as opposed to state bureaucracies, but in every conceivable form it might take. How can you tell if the system in operation is capitalism? With a simple check-list. Employment – the exploitation of employees (French for the 'used') by employers (users) via the legalised robbery of the wages system. The market; in other words, the buying and selling of things which could instead now be created in such abundance that they could be taken freely by anyone in the global population, without...
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Dear Russell, Hi. I'm Jo. You may remember me. You may even have filmed me. On Friday, you staged a publicity stunt at an RBS office, inconveniencing a hundred or so people. I was the lanky slouched guy with a lot less hair than you but (I flatter myself) a slightly better beard who complained to you that you, a multimillionaire, had caused my lunch to get cold. You started going on at me about public money and bankers' bonuses, but look, Russell, anyone who knows me will tell you that my food is important to me, and I hadn't had breakfast that morning, and I'd been standing in the freezing cold for half an hour on your whim. What mattered to me at the time wasn't bonuses; it was my lunch, so I said so. Which is a great shame, because I'd usually be well up for a proper barney with...
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To the people and politicians of Australia, The siege at the Lindt Café in Martin Place, Sydney (15-16th December 2014) was a terrible and tragic event. Now that the last shot has been fired, each and every one of us has to decide where to go from here. We could say that this was a sorry one-off event and leave it behind us. Alternatively we could say it was too important for that, and there are lessons to be learned. This is the approach that most commentators and indeed the politicians are taking, but with a focus on urgency. In this mad scrambling for immediate answers, I am calling “time-out”. We need to take a moment to decide where we want to go from here before we finally look up and find ourselves lost, a long way down some unknown highway. I agree there are...
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I was deeply impacted by yet another domestic violence death, almost two weeks ago. I have decided to not let this death go unnoticed. We at Inner City Women’s Group are making a small gesture to remember the women who lose their lives to domestic violence. If you share our sentiments, join us. Heidi Welman Scott was killed by her ex-husband on Thursday 27th November. She had a protection order against him. It could have been any woman, it could have been any Thursday, because this seems to be common place in our 100% pure New Zealand. Domestic violence is a social epidemic and is claiming lives of women on a regular basis. I wonder who can do something about this. Would there be a response from the World Health Organisation? Probably not, they can control spread of killer viruses...
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Dear Emma, You are a classy lady and I have nothing but respect for you. Despite becoming a movie star at a very young age, you’ve avoided child star stereotypes, graduated from Brown University, and even got certified to teach yoga and meditation. So, it is not my intent to discredit you in any way, I just want to express my views about your speech as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. Hopefully, some constructive public discourse will come out of it. In that speech you declared yourself to be a feminist, because you believe that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. Nothing to object here. Overall, you gave a good speech, and I’m all for giving rural African girls access to secondary education. But asking why feminism has become such an uncomfortable word,...
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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PM FOR JUSTICE Respected Pradhanmantri Narendra Modiji, With due respect and faith, I am writing this letter because I know you are a justice loving person. In India, it is a crime to be honest, to oppose injustice and to rise for ones rights. Having seen the country, I hope you will agree that self-respect of an employee today is just like a football, only to be kicked and crushed by those in power. But everything has a limit. My father is an Ordinary Indian. He works as Head Commercial Clerk in Raipur (SECR), Indian railways, always overtime and underprivileged. Even in spite of acute staff shortage and suffocating working conditions, it is the handful people like him who have still kept the railways breathing in the ICU. He worked 12 hours a day, but...
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TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES November, 3, 2014 An Open Letter to President Obama Mr. President, Is it compatible with the United States professed belief in Democracy and the protection of Human Rights, that the same United States run by its own active agents, appointed by President Reagan and President George W. Busch as US federal judges, a veritable WANDERZIRKUS in Alaska's Office of the Attorney General, and in Hawaii's District Court in Honolulu, both, which pose fraudulently as the Supreme Court of the sovereign nation, the Republic of the Marshall Islands? Some facts supported by evidence of public documents: For more than 30 years, active and semi-retired US federal judges, mostly from the Ninth Circuit, deprive the Republic of the Marshall...
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As this terrible week closes, and condolences pour in for the families of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo, it is my wish to also offer you condolences on the loss of your sons as well. I am troubled with the polarizing language used by the media to describe your sons this week. I only imagine that the guilt, anger and shame you must already be feeling is only compounded by the hurtful language used to describe your boys. I understand that Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau especially has repeatedly asked for help, and was denied. I am so sorry that he went unanswered. As a nation we failed four men this week. Two of those four we continue to fail, by attaching labels and vilifying. I thought, mistakenly, that as Canadians we were somehow above that. I offer my...
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I do not claim to be a professional writer or an expert on defamation law by any means. I simply want to share my opinion/experience when I was cyber-libelled and hopefully provide some information or help to other numerous victims of this crime. I am an immigrant to Canada, and as an immigrant I always relished in the immense privileges that I posses now as a Canadian citizen. I always took pride in the fact that this country offered me the freedoms to reach my potential and achieve all my goals and dreams. I also believed that as a law abiding, tax-paying Canadian citizen my rights and freedoms were protected by our Justice System. Unfortunately my beliefs shattered when I became a victim cyber-bullying , defamation-libel and breach of privacy . To this day I am speechless at the...
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