Multi-talented Nova Scotia writer wins 'neo-liberal' contest!

And the winner of my media challenge contest is… Joan Baxter, a journalist, an award-winning author and anthropologist who lived and worked in Africa for 21 years.

I had felt for some time that journalists in the mainstream corporate media were being intimidated by corporate owners and the Harper government from writing about the government’s destructive ideology – neo-liberalism.

In my January 11, 2012 blog, I offered a dinner for two valued at $150 to any journalist who would write in a mainstream Canadian newspaper about Harper’s neo-liberalism policies.

“Canada under Conservatives not what it used to be,” was the title of Baxter’s February 22 2012 article in The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, a paper not normally know for aggressive or in-depth journalism.   Marke Slipp of Wolfville, N.S. won $50 for spotting the Baxter article.

NDP leadership candidates ducking biggest issue of our time

Heading into the final weeks of the NDP leadership race, the candidates still have not debated the most important challenge facing society -- the destructive force of modern-day capitalism.

How can a political party that calls itself “social democratic”, or even “progressive”, have a leadership campaign go on for several weeks without candidates – as far as I can determine – discussing the damaging force that capitalism has become?

At Davos last month, heads of think tanks and corporations called for the revamping of capitalism because of the destruction the system has wrought.

Even the normally mild-mannered monthly Toronto Life had freelance journalist Jason McBride do a hatched job on dysfunctional capitalism in its March issue in an article entitled Something Rotten on Bay Street.

Is Stephen Harper displaying fascist-like tendencies?

The stepped-up authoritarian, anti-democratic manner in which Stephen Harper has conducted himself since obtaining his Parliamentary majority nine months ago raises serious concerns about how far right he is planning to push the country in his effort to forever change the face of Canada.

Harper hates many things about Canada – most of all the moderate liberalism that a majority of people have preferred over the years. He has adopted a ‘take-no-prisoners’ attitude, rushing ahead with destructive plans never before discussed in public, as well as doubling cuts to government compared to what he said before the election.

Elected with the support of only 25 per cent of eligible voters, Harper nevertheless is running roughshod over the wishes and interests of the majority 75 per cent of Canadians.

So, just how extreme is Harper’s behaviour?

A few years ago, a former U.S. business executive, Laurence W. Britt, came up with a 14-point description of fascism.
  
In view of Harper`s behaviour of late, I think it’s time to look at Britt’s document again.

NDPers dreamin' of victory, 'trash' power sharing with Libs

The issue of having the New Democratic Party form an alliance with other parties – if such a move would keep the Conservatives out of power in 2015 – is vitally important for Canadians who fear the possibility of another four years of disastrous cutting and slashing.

But some of the NDP candidates for the party leadership do not seem concerned.

From what has been said during debates and party chit-chat, it is amazing how many New Democrats are convinced that the party definitely will win the 2015 election. 

Therefore, most say there is no reason for leadership candidates to discuss any sort of alliance with the Liberals and Greens to send Harper packing for good.

Even though the facts indicate that an NDP win in 2015 is a long shot, three leadership hopefuls taking part in a debate in Halifax on Sunday spoke out in favour of the status quo. 

Calgary columnist challenged to write about Harper neoliberalism

On January 11, 2012, I offered any mainstream journalist at any large Canadian daily a free-dinner-for-two (value$150) if he/she could convince their editors to let them write an article or column describing the neoliberal policies of the Harper government. I have had no takers.
 
But this week, I did hear from a journalist by the name of Ian Robinson. He has some interesting opinions. He believes that “politicians fall somewhere below the humble, yet useful dung beetle and above penicillin-resistant staphylococcus.”
 
And: “The heart of the Occupy movement is a festering, black mass of envy and hatred for success.”
 
Lastly, "climate change is caused by the sun". 
Robinson is a “shoot now, ask NO questions” columnist and copy editor with The Calgary Sun. 
In a comment on my blog, he took exception to my earlier article, in which I said that there is a silent conspiracy amongst media corporations to censor any discussion of the Conservative government’s neoliberal ideology. 
I believe that the wide-open, free-for-all neoliberal environment that exists for the business community and that is ignored by the mainstream media, was responsible for the 2008 economic crash and is behind the current mess in Europe.
 
And Robinson’s opinion of me? That my views “strike him as less political position and more a symptom of some sort of mental disorder.”
Well!

Unless people take action, Harper's scheme will mean 'Goin' Down the Road' for Maritimers

By dramatically changing the health care funding formula, is Prime Minister Stephen Harper showing little concern for the future of the Maritime provinces? 

The Health Accord “deal” that Harper practically threw in the face of the provinces and territories this week, not only cuts health funding for all the provinces starting in four years, but threatens to further widen the growing standard-of-living chasm between  the “have” and “have not” provinces.

As their meeting ended in Victoria on Tuesday, the premiers vowed they will pressure the Conservative government to change the least equitable aspects of the so-called take-it-or-leave-it “agreement”.  But what if the sometimes stubborn Harper government refuses to give much ground?

All citizens of the Maritimes – not just the governments – would have good reason to vehemently protest the new agreement because the provinces that would likely lose the most in the long term are Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.  

Increase in cost of living
If the 2016-17 part of the agreement goes into effect, the cost of living will increase in the Maritimes, and this will be another blow to the region’s problem of too many people leaving to live elsewhere in the country. 

'Dinner for two' for first journalist who dares to explain Conservative ideology

Journalists in the mainstream Canadian media are being intimidated from fully describing the soulless ideology practised by the Harper Conservative government – at least this has been my impression for some time now. 

Wanting to find out what journalists are really writing about the Tories and neoliberalism, I spent some time this week searching the Internet for any 2011 articles that would link the two.

I felt that, if the mainstream media is involved in an unspoken conspiracy of silence to hide the evil economic philosophy of the Harper government, the public needs to know. 

Should we 'take down' the banks or try to save the best of capitalism?

It is November 1968, and a writer for Modern Mechanix peers 40 years into the future:

“People have more time for leisure activities in the year 2008. The average work day is about four hours . . . . Homes are practically self-maintaining. Robots are available to do housework and other simple chores . . . . You slide into your sleek, two-passenger air-cushion car, press a sequence of buttons and the national traffic computer notes your destination. Ninety minutes later, you slide beneath the dome of your destination city. . . . A typical vacation in 2008 is to spend a week at an undersea resort, where your hotel room window looks out on a tropical underwater reef.”

So what the hell went wrong?

Coke helps save Canada's polar bears but exploits developing countries

The Coca-Cola Company has put on a happy face for the North American public by pledging to help protect the iconic polar bear while, at the same time, continuing to be one of the worst environmentally destructive corporations in the underdeveloped world.

Pointing out on its website that the rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic threatens the future of the polar bear, Coke says it is extending its financial support for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) with $2-million over five years toward conservation efforts.

In addition, Coke will match up to $1 million USD of consumer donations in Canada and the US made until March 15, 2012.

New Coke Cans featuring
the iconic polar bear

At the same time, the company is spending millions on TV advertising and has even changed the appearance of its Coke cans by displaying polar bears on them so it can get a big boost in sales for being such a great corporate citizen. Since advertising is a business expense, the cost of the ads is a tax deduction for Coke, and the company will receive an additional tax break –– for its contribution to the WWF -- both courtesy of the Canadian public.

There is no denying that the polar bear project is very important, and was warmly welcomed by The Thompson Citizen.

However, this project raises two important questions:

• Should Coke be allowed to get away with the hypocrisy of exploiting an emotional campaign to help save polar bears while, at the same time, depleting water resources, exploiting workers in developing countries, and telling us that it is “fun” to drink its sugar-laden products?
• Secondly, should the World Wildlife Fund Canada be taking money from a corporation that destroys the environment and wildlife in other parts of the world?

Staff at 'Grinch' KPMG well looked after while advocating 'workers' comp' cuts

It is bitterly ironic that KPMG – the private consulting firm that helps governments wipe out thousands of important jobs that make our communities work well – is itself regarded as one of the very best employers in the country.

Injured workers and their support groups in Ontario are outraged by the recent KPMG report for the Ministry of Labour’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) that, according to the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), “advocates that a successful workers compensation system is one that stops compensating injured workers.”

KPMG – which operates across Canada and internationally – performs “hatchet jobs” for governments – often governments that don’t have the nerve to take the lead themselves when they want cutbacks.

Here are some of KPMG’s recommendations, according to OCAP:

• injured workers who get laid off should be denied compensation,
• people who get re-injured should have less access to compensation, compensation for permanent injuries should be reduced, and
• the WSIB should be able to review compensation indefinitely, thereby leaving injured workers with absolutely no income security.

KPMG operates across Canada as well as in 145 other countries globally. The organization’s motto is: “Cutting through complexity.”

In 2011, KPMG was named as the World's Best Outsourcing Advisors, which basically recognizes their skills to help companies get rid of good paying staff positions and farming them out to lower-paying, often questionable companies.

The individuals – mostly accountants – who choose to work for an organization that helps destroy the jobs and lives of thousands of hard-working Canadians are themselves treated like Royalty.

According to a 2010 report in The Globe and Mail, This is what KPMG offers: “flexible job schedules, a salary top-up for 17 weeks of maternity leave, four weeks of paternity leave, bonuses for staff who volunteer in the community, access to elder care – and a concierge service to help an employee, say, renew his passport or plan his family vacation while at the office.”