Section: US & Canada
Glavin: The fiasco of bill C-51
“Our own society is still, broadly speaking, liberal. To exercise your right of free speech you have to fight against economic pressure and against strong sections of public opinion, but not, as yet, against a secret police force.” – George Orwell, The Prevention of Literature, 1946. It’s a bit of a stretch to say, as some are saying, that...
Austerity Is ‘Complete Horsesh*t’: Ivy League Prof Dismantles the Conservative Lie
Mark Blyth’s new book explains the damaging consequences of austerity in Europe and the U.S. As devoted readers of Paul Krugman know well, there’s plenty of evidence from the last six years indicating that austerity, the idea that the government can best boost the economy by engaging in significant tax hikes as well as spending cuts,...
Key sticking points remain in Ukraine peace talks
Talks aim to negotiate deal to end hostilities between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists that have killed more 5,300 people. …read more Source: Toronto...
Trapped in Baku
An Azerbaijani dissident married to a U.S. servicewoman has spent the last half-year living in the Swiss embassy in Baku, denied protection by the American embassy there. The 35-year-old human rights defender Emin Huseynov has long been persecuted by the authoritarian government of Ilham Aliyev and since August 2014 has been hosted by the Swiss...
Ukraine Peace Talks Begin, Overshadowed by Fighting
The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine began peace talks in Belarus on Wednesday, while in Ukraine pro-Moscow separatists tightened the pressure on Kiev by launching some of the war’s worst fighting. The Kiev army said 19 of its soldiers were killed in a day of pro-Russian separatist assaults near the railway town of Debaltseve,...
Ukraine Minsk Meeting: Peace Talks Breed Skepticism After Continued Fighting, Failed First Accord
Ukraine peace talks in Minsk, Belarus are underway on Wednesday, as heads of state of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have all arrived there to negotiate a lasting peace in eastern Ukraine. Continued fighting there and the impotency of a comprehensive resolution signed in Minsk in September raise questions about the effectiveness of a...
Germany Ranks Third Highest For Censorship on Twitter
Germany filed the third highest number of requests to Twitter for content to be removed from the platform, with only Turkey and Russia ranked higher, a new report has revealed. Twitter’s biannual transparency report showed that between July-December 2014, Twitter received an 84% increase in global government and government-sanctioned...
Lawmakers seek $1B in military aid for Ukraine
The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee unveiled bipartisan legislation Tuesday evening to provide $1 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, in the face of Russian aggression against the country. The legislation from… …read more Source: The...
Six Months in, Obama Asks Congress to Authorize War in Iraq and Syria—But to What End?
It is not exactly clear that bombing and military intervention is working. Six months after the first U.S. strikes against ISIS and allied groups in Iraq and Syria, the Obama administration formally asked Congress to approve an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that would allow for a continuation of American involvement in the...
Europe’s Dilemma – Putin’s Blessing in Disguise
Co-authored by William Witenberg a contemporary artist focused on abstract painting It is hard to believe but bonds issued by the governments of Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany are offering negative yields. This means that at the maturity of the bond an investor will receive less than invested. These bonds guarantee, in effect,...
