Julian Assange's 'The World Tomorrow' Interviews Have Been Remarkable

Yesterday i watched Julian Assange's interview of  Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador, on RT.com. Please watch it yourself, it's...remarkable. Rafael Correa, who has a Phd in economics, has changed Equador from a backward colony of the oil oligarchy into an independent economic giant in Latin America by buying out/nationalizing the oil resources and using the profits for the good of the Equadorian people.

Like each of Assange's guests, Correa was asked tough questions by Assange each of which he fielded with intelligent, graceful and humorous aplomb. In one early part of the interview Correa quoted Evo Morales in answering Assange's question about America's image in Latin America, "There's only one country that is 100% certain it won't suffer a coup, the US. That's because there's no US embassy there."

Assange is of course under attack not only for his world shaking website Wikileaks but also now for his interview show. His critics claim Assange is being used as a puppet by the Kremlin to disseminate Russian propaganda. Watch for yourself and see, many others have including American journalist Glen Greenwald who's quote is below is about Assange's first show where he interviews Hezbollah leader Nasrallah. All of Assange's past shows are available here.

"The interview with Nasrallah was pretty remarkable. Assange criticized Nasrallah for failing to support the citizens of Syria fighting against the Assad government. The Russian government has been an ally of the Assad government. He asked him about corruption and deceit at the highest levels of Hezbollah. So the positions Assange took in his very first interview were directly contrary to the policy of the Russian government. I’d say it gives great credence to Assange’s claim of his editorial independence. It makes those claiming otherwise look like deceivers and liars." - Glen Greenwald 

Re-Framing the Montreal Student Protests

As Montreal gears up for 100th day of student protests which will see a huge mass march by unionists and students followed by a  rally and who knows what it's important to look at how this confrontation between the students and the Quebec government is being framed by the mainstream media. Framing determines the parameters of the discussion in almost every case and as we all know by now the mainstream media, because it's a whore for its corporate advertisers, can't ever allow the discussion to question the underlying class struggle.

In this case what the mainstream media wants us all to focus on is how tuition fees in Quebec are the lowest in Canada not on why. If we allow ourselves to only follow this channel we inevitably end up saying something like, "What are they bitching about?". Instead of, "Why is the government raising the fees?"

Quebec, like every neo-liberal beholding government-even those with massive resource export economies, is caught in a trap whereby the cost of delivering services is rising and their revenues are dropping. Quebec, like the rest, is governed indirectly by the elites who control the re-election campaign purse strings for the wanna-be elites who we call politicians. So the only solution these guys can possibly advance for their predicament is cutbacks, austerity, less services-whatever you want to call it. Their solution, and the media's representation of their solution, is always on the outlay side, never on the income side because any talk of raising taxes would dictate a re-framing of the question into one of social justice, one of taxing those most able to pay which is of course the corporations and the elites, the whore masters.

The argument going on in Quebec is the same  argument  going on in Europe, the same  argument that's been going on in Latin America for decades, in the Middle East, in Africa, in the tent cities of foreclosed Americans, in the doorways where the homeless sleep-it's the same  argument  that has caused every war, every economic depression and every revolution in history. The Quebec Spring is the Arab Spring, it's Europe's debt crisis, it's...it's why Arcade Fire, Mick Jagger and mr. mud are wearing red squares on their clothes today. “Their uprising is inspiring!” Micheal Moore said yesterday. In Montreal today thousands will march, Montreal today, tomorrow the world.

Keep the Peace - Stop the Site C Dam

The Site C Dam Project is undergoing a joint environmental assessment (EA) review by the federal and provincial governments. Written comments can be mailed or submitted online and will be accepted until June 1st. Click Here to 'Have Your Say'

The Peace River Valley, in the northeast corner of British Columbia, is home to Treaty 8 First Nations’ hunting, fishing, and trapping grounds, old growth boreal forests, and is one of the most important wildlife corridors in the Yellowstone to Yukon migration corridor chain. In addition the land that would be flooded by the damn dam is the best agricultural land in northern BC, with the only class one soil north of Quesnel.

BC Hydro says it is because we need the energy, but we don’t, their own reports say we can meet demands through energy conservation. Site C is not about meeting the electricity demands of British Columbians; it is about exporting electricity (for air conditioners in California) and expanding BC’s gas and mining industries. "Site C and B.C.'s proposed LNG development go hand in hand", according to Premier Christy Clark, "The newly approved licence for Shell to export liquefied natural gas out of Kitimat will use 100 per cent of the power Site C would create. We cannot create this new industry in British Columbia, by adding value to natural gas, without the power that would come from Site C."

Site C fails to meet minimum international standards for large dam construction. Although the BC government is presenting the $8 billion hydro project as a "clean energy project", Site C would increase annual greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia by almost 150,000 tonnes. The project's carbon footprint derives from construction emissions, from emissions created by the flooded boreal forest as it decays and will block the natural sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide that would have occurred over that huge area.

The ongoing environmental assessment (EA) review hearings by the federal and provincial governments are only being held in the area near the proposed dam's site. Those opposing the damn thing say its undemocratic and foolish that B.C. Hydro isn’t holding public meetings provincewide considering that First Nations in the territory around the dam site are united in their opposition to the dam, as are the people who live in the valley that will be flooded—the farmers and the ranchers and such. Opponents believe that certainly southern cities, who will be asked to foot the bill for this thing, should be brought into it the public consultations. Site C would require the largest single deletion of agricultural land in the province’s history—over 5,000 acres of prime agricultural land pulled out of the ALR [Agricultural Land Reserve].

Have Your Say on the Proposed Site C Dam

National Nurses United Has a Solution to Heal the World

On Friday, wearing red National Nurses United (NNU) scrubs calling for "an economy for the 99%" and zippy green Robin Hood hats, nurses from around the globe were campaigning on the idea of the Robin Hood Tax as the solution to heal world.

It wasn’t just the NNU who filled Daley Plaza on Friday, they were joined by Occupy Chicago, by veterans, by United Mine Workers, by musicians, by local Chicago activists, by representatives of international economic justice organizations, by rock and rollers including Tom Morello, a labor activist and world-famous guitarist from the band Rage Against the Machine [see video below] and by famed "Chicago 8" protester Tom Hayden who spoke publicly in Chicago for the first time in 44 years.

Today some 20,000 activists, led by Iraq Veterans Against the War are marching in Chicago to protest the continuing war in Afghanistan. Yesterday thousands protested against the neo-liberal austerity agenda all across Europe. It appears that the veil is dropping from the eyes of the 99% worldwide.

“Lifetimes of insecure, low-wage labor or prison—this is very close to the “indentured servitude” that was abolished along with slavery by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1865. The freed slaves are being recaptured by debt, beginning with the debt of school loans, followed by credit card debt, mortgage debt, and healthcare costs.' - Ellen Brown

Tom Morello closed out the rally with his famous “Worldwide Rebel Song” 

Harper Government Once Again Serving its Corporate Benefactors by Shutting Down Experimental Lakes Research Facility

Scientists from Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institute, and other elite research centres worldwide are condemning the Harper government for shutting down a world-class freshwater research program that Federal officials say, "is no longer aligned with the department's mandate and is not responding to our research priorities." The famous research facility in Ontario is the latest victim of federal budget cuts. Unions said this was a fragment of the more than 1,000 notices sent Thursday to Fisheries and Canadian Coast Guard employees about imminent layoffs.

What then are those priorities?  Dr. David Schindler, now at the University of Alberta, who is an internationally renowned freshwater scientist, said "It's obvious in the changes to the Fisheries Act and the CEAA (Canadian Environmental Assessment Act) they are hellbent on doing whatever they can that, in their feeble minds, will save them some money." he concluded his remarks by saying, "They're obviously closing the site because they don't want to be pestered by science."

David Krabbenhoft, a Wisconsin-based geochemist with the United States Geological Survey, points out that the mining industry, for instance, hated the ELA. Krabbenhoft, who worked for years on the mercury project, said the research was specifically designed to answer a vexing policy question -- what real good would it do to crack down on mercury emissions when the Earth's soil and water are already contaminated with centuries of mercury buildup? By deliberately adding mercury to a lake and to the surrounding watershed and watching the effects for a decade, researchers found that, in fact, curtailing emissions does a world of good. Gold mining companies everywhere were forced to curtail their rampant mercury use because of this research.

In another landmark experiment in the 1970s, researchers divided up a lake into two parts to study the effects of phosphates on the water, assuming that they were behind the phenomenon of oxygen-depriving blue-green algae. Companies who made and sold household detergents and shampoos rigorously denied that phosphates were the reason that lakes were becoming green and murky rather than remaining crystal clear. Of course the researchers showed that one side of the lake turned green the other remained clear costing those companies millions to change their products.

The ELA also pioneered the investigations into acid rain which ended up costing the corporations billions to clean up their acts. The Harper government has billions of dollars to spend on ridiculous programs like the F-35 jets and prisons in their favorite ridings both of which curry favor with their benefactors and kickbacks for themselves but consistently gut any program that protects the environment from the pollution caused by the corporations who support the Conservatives. Harper and his corporate ass-kissing cronies are the worst thing that ever happened to Canada.

Why Exporting Raw Bitumen Instead of Refining it in Canada is Bad for Canadians

Yesterday's Article 'Keep the oilsands' wealth at home' in the Vancouver Sun by Economist Robyn Allan is just the latest in a series of articles she's written in the last few months where Allan argues that the economics of exporting raw bitumen do not stand up to serious scrutiny. Robyn Allan has outlined in her past articles why the Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines will harm Canadian economy and that it's a "false dichotomy" to suggest that the pipeline proposals are a question of either supporting economic growth or promoting the environment and First Nations' rights.

In her most recent article yesterday she spoke to the question of 'winners and losers' created by the Conservative government's insistence that exporting raw, unrefined, bitumen to Asia and the US is a priority for Canadian economic security. Allan points out that the multinational oil companies and companies owned by countries - such as China-the same companies that own Canadian exploration and production rights also own the refineries in the U.S. and China. They don't like our higher labour and environmental standards.

"Upgrading and refining are where the jobs and economic wealth come from - not ripping it and shipping it to foreign countries so they reap the gain from turning Canada's raw resources into end-user products." Allan says our energy resources "will be shipped as bitumen along with the jobs, labour income and government revenues that go with it. Alberta's new energy strategy is actually hollowing the downstream capabilities of the oil industry."

Back in pre-collapse 2008, Alberta's oil producers announced a wide range of upgrading and refining conversion projects to process crude oil at home. But when oil prices tumbled at that time so did investment capital for the proposed refining capacity expansion. If those new facilities had been built western crude could flow to Eastern Canada - along with the economic benefits of energy independence. Refining our raw materials, creating secondary industries be it in the oil industry of the forest industry where exporting raw logs is just as stupid, keeps the money, jobs and government revenues of value-added production and wealth at home.

So the winners of Harper's get rich quick schemes are the multi-national oil giants and the Canadian oil oligarchy along with the Conservative party who are the beneficiaries of their corporate largess. The losers are the rest of us in Canuckistan.

National Nurses United to Lead Huge Rally in Chicago Tomorrow in Support of a Robin Hood Tax

On Friday, May 18, NNU members will gather in Chicago to call for the tax, they will be joined by nursing representatives from the UK, Italy, Canada, Guatemala, Germany, and South Korea. The rally  will be led by National Nurses United, the nation's largest union of nurses with over 170,000 members, and is endorsed by more than 100 organizations of labor, environmentalists and consumer advocates.

The centerpiece of the rally is a call for a Robin Hood tax, a small levy of 50 cents or less on $100 of trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial instruments that could raise up to $350 billion every year in revenue. The money generated by a Robin Hood Tax could be used for social programs and job creation - ultimately to help people who, without a doubt, need it more than the banks do. Though the power and influence of Big Banking is intimidating the National Nurses Union has an inspiring history of defeating some of the toughest opponents in government and politics.

The National Nurses Union stands, time and again, for the health of their patients. They realize, as once upon a time all unions did, that the health their clients, their patients, can not be divided from the health of the community they are a part of. To this end the NNU supports many causes whose diverse goals center on the broadest possible well being for us all.

Once upon a time all unions understood that their members well being could only advance in step with the progress of the well being of all workers, in today's parlance-the 99%. Unlike the vast majority of modern unions who have devolved into special interest groups who, like corporations, solely focus is on the well being of their shareholders, their membership, and have lost sight of the fact that we are all stakeholders in this one world, the NNU still stands for the real values of the union movement. Good on 'em!

The Living Planet Report by the WWF Focuses on the Calamity of Conspicious Consumption

The Living Planet Report is the world's leading, science-based analysis on the health of our only planet and the impact of human activity. Its key finding? Humanity's demands exceed our planet's capacity to sustain us. That is, we ask for more than what we have. The report, endorsed by the European Space Agency, says in part, "...the only people on Earth who are living within their means are those in the poorest nations - their "footprint" exactly matches the "biocapacity" in their countries." and that "the oxymoron of endless economic growth must be abandoned."

As Prof. Richard Pollay's decades of research into the character and social consequences of advertising has clearly shown those of us who live in consumer cultures are manipulated by advertising but are also driven to unsustainable consumption by peer pressure and by the fear of rejection and judgement by 'others'.

Who, then, are these 'others' whose judgement so many in our consumer cultures fear? Are they powerful individuals? Are they individuals at all? Are they real at all or are 'they' projections of the inner insecurities held the fearful themselves? What, then, is this phantom called culture whose power to judge can so often, and so predictably, manipulate and drive the consumer to seek fulfillment through retail therapy?

Does this phantom, this culture of consumption, have any existence beyond the insecurity of its participants? Of course not. This culture, like all cultures, is simply the product of our collective imaginings, of our collective will. The buyological-urge metaphor that Adbusters used in its Buy-Nothing Day campaign and The Living Planet Report both try, in different ways, to tear down the veil of culturally derived collective preconceptions that drive the unsustainable consumption of the limited resources on this one small planet in an impossible attempt to satiate a phantom.

Homo Shopus: The final stage in our evolution?

Mainstream Media's 'Chicken Little' Response to Greek Default Reflects Their Investor Class Myopia

Here comes the Drachmas, hooray. The poor and downtrodden of the world never see their best interests trumpeted in the lamestream media and it's absolutely true again in the case of Greece's popular revolt against the elites. The corporate media, like the investor class itself, has one group's best interests at heart-their own. The corporate media, which means every mass media outlet be it print or broadcast, is totally beholden to owners whose sole interest is maximizing profits. Profits are only generated by income from advertisers. Advertisers only want see no evil-speak no evil-hear no evil stories about economic growth for the consumer-investor class.

Real information about world events can only be found on small independent internet outlets who don't have to rely on the capitalist system for their survival. One consistent ruse being used by the corporate media in their constant drumbeat that Greek default will cause untold hardship for Greeks is where they use Argentina's experience as an example. Uga-Buga-be very afraid they say, but then go on to only use the problems in the first year of Argentina's actual experience and refuse to mention that in the following ten years Argentina has prospered despite the IMF and World Bank's Chicken little type prognostications. Argentina right now is one of the fastest growing most successful countries in the world because they dumped the interests of the global bloodsuckers in favor of the interests of their average citizens.

Greek debt is a function of the obsession of their generals and corrupt politicians having spent billions of dollars on totally unnecessary military hardware. After the next round of elections, after the Greeks throw the banksters out, the newly elected people's government should give back the useless jets and submarines to their US, French and German manufacturers and offer to send the generals, politicians and bankers a one way ticket to ride along on the return trip.

As Costas Lapavitsas Professor of economics, School of Oriental and Asian Studies, University of London said today, "Greek default and exit would remove the pressure of debt, boosting competitiveness, lifting austerity and allowing for proper restructuring of the economy and society." What the investor class fears most about how the Greeks are rising up on their hind legs and giving the banksters the finger is the fact that the Portuguese, the Irish, the Spanish, the Italian and the rest of the people everywhere will open their eyes, stretch the arms and wave their middle fingers too.


Chávez's Economics Lesson for Europe - Hugo Chávez's rejection of the neoliberal policies dragging Europe down sets a hopeful example to Greece and beyond.


For Greece – and Europe – the true calamity is to delay exiting the euro - One thing only is certain. A year on, Greece will be on the mend and everyone will wonder why exit took so long, and why anyone believed the fools who said it would be an inconceivable calamity.

The Blue Jays are Canada's Team

This past weekend it's been great fun watching the 4 game series between The Blue Jays and the Twins down in Minneapolis. The games were close and the teams split the series 2-2. Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista seemed to find his stroke just as Ricky Romero and Kyle Drebek seemed to lose the strike zone.

But the real fun was watching the thousands of fans from all over the prairie provinces who'd followed their Jays down to Minneapolis to watch the series. Like the series, the stands were split pretty evenly too. Often competitive cheering matches broke out between the fans, especially late in the games after a few brewskis had been had by all sides. As most folks know just behind hockey comes beer drinking on the Canadian hit parade and the prairie folks didn't let that image down.

On Friday night the crowd from the great white north started cheering 'Go Canada Go' instead of their regular 'Go Jays Go' chant which naturally brought boos followed by U! S! A! cheers from the Twinkies home crowd. Back and forth it went, it got so loud eventually even the broadcasters, who seldom mention anything even remotely political in nature, had to talk about it.

The Jays fans had driven from Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and a hundred other little places to get there. So many of them came they clogged up the border crossings and filled up the motels and bars. The same kinda scene happens whenever the Jays play a series in Seattle or Detroit. In fact Canadians either displaced by work or on holidays can often be seen wearing the colors and draining a few cold ones at ball parks wherever the Jays are playing. All the Blue Jays' games are telecast coast to coast to coast up here in Canuckistan and they've truly become major league baseball's version of Canada's team.

Occupy Misses the Point That All Economic Activity, All 'Markets', are Driven by the Demand Side

The Occupy movement has done an excellent job of creating a space in our cultural dialogue for the discussion of class consciousness by inserting the 99% meme into our worldviews. Now that the idea packet-the meme-has wiggled through our veils of perception it seems obvious, it's not something new, it's always been there but has, until now, been a hazy unfocused mirage.

That's how our mental machinery works. Once an idea packet  has wiggled its way past our belief/bullshit sensors and become part of our newly evolved worldview we see it as obvious. That's true too for another huge part of day to day economics in our consumer driven culture. All economic activity, all markets are demand side driven. Every exchange of goods or money can be reduced to supply and demand. There is no market without demand, supply simply grows and slows to meet it.

As economist Erik Lindberg says, "All economists know, a decline in consumer spending, confidence, and optimism, can plunge an economy into recession. This entirely uncontroversial view is one step away from its categorical version which turns out to be the foundation of liberal economics: that not only can a lack of demand cause a recession, the lack of demand—when considered in its broadest sense--is really the ONLY thing that could cause an economic recession or slow down."

It seems obvious then that though the 1% unfairly benefit from our culture's unequal resource distribution we the 99% only have ourselves to blame. Of course, there are manipulative advertising gimmicks that can marginally increase demand for one brand of plastic bullshit over another but if there is no underlying demand for the commodity or service the supply lines dwindle to zero. So if we didn't already believe in the free lunch delusion we'd never be taken in by the consumer therapy flim flam. As Pogo famously said, "i've seen the enemy and he is us."

The Biggest Step Toward Lowering Your Carbon Footprint is Lowering Your Meat Consumption

Producing one calorie from animal protein requires 11 times as much fossil fuel input—releasing 11 times as much carbon dioxide—as does producing a calorie from plant protein. As Michael Pollan famously said, “A vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius.”

A double quarter-pounder with cheese from McDonald’s, for instance, takes 26 ounces of oil to produce. That means thirteen pounds of carbon into the air, which is the equivalent of burning seven pounds of coal. But that's only part of the hidden cost. Feeding massive amounts of grain and water to farmed animals and then killing them and processing, transporting, and storing their flesh is extremely energy-intensive. In addition, enormous amounts of carbon dioxide stored in trees are released during the destruction of vast acres of forest to provide pastureland and to grow crops for farmed animals.

On top of that, a recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found that the animals' burps, the nitrous oxide gases and large quantities of carbon dioxide coming from their decomposing manure and other factors, including the energy needed to store and transport meat, were responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions - more than the world's entire transportation sector.

Turns out that not eating meat is the 'single most effective thing you can do' to reduce your climate change impact. Of course not everyone is going to stop eating meat but there are alternatives to the most environmentally destructive industrial production model of meat production and organic grass fed beef is one such example. The fact is that the true costs of our conspicuous consumption, in every part of our lives not just on our plates, are hidden from view on purpose because if the true full costs of our folly were evident we'd change our actions.

California's 'Right to Know' Initiative Demanding Mandatory Labeling of GMO Foods Leading the Way

The Committee for the Right to Know is a grassroots coalition of consumer, public health, environmental organizations, and food companies in California that is seeking the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs). Last week the committee delivered a 1 million signature petition to the 58 county registrars throughout the state exceeding the number required to get the question on November's ballot..

In an large advance poll, 75%+ of Californians said they would vote for Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods! If this initiative passes, it will be a huge step towards the transparency people deserve. Once people KNOW what is in their food, they can then make the informed choice to avoid the potential health risks of GMOs until more research on their long-term effects can be done.

50 countries with over 40% of the world’s population already label genetically engineered foods, including the entire European Union. Even China labels genetically engineered foods. Why are Canada and the US governments so adamantly against mandatory labeling? Why are our government's regulations making the chemical industry giants happy at our expense? It's always the same answer, money honey.

Our governments are owned and operated by and for the corporate interests that 'pay the piper'. Our subservient corporate owned media dances to the same tune. Here, on this one issue, though the people of California have the opportunity to start the ball rolling in the opposite direction. Huge majorities in every jurisdiction in North America agree with the Californians and California is such a huge demographic that mandatory labeling there would force the food industries everywhere in North America to change their labeling because it would be to costly to create separate systems in separate jurisdictions.

Please watch this stirring video of Pamm Larry at the 'Right to Know Rally' in San Francisco.

Military Contractor's Bribes to Bureancrats and Elected Officials are the Major Cause of Greece's Debt Problems

"Germany became Germany partly because for 62 years it did not have to think about military expenditure," said Angelos Philippides, a prominent economist. "For a long time Greece spent 7% of its GDP on defence when other European countries spent an average 2.2%. If you were to add up that compound 5% from 1946 to today, there would be no debt at all."- the Gaurdian.

I am 100% certain that in absolute terms its defence expenditure is much greater than official documents would show due to the so-called secret funds the state has access to," said Katerina Tsoukala, a Brussels-based security expert. "Greece has never had a transparent and democratic defence procurement strategy. Instead, everything is veiled in secrecy which inevitably leads to bribery."

Greece's generals, bureaucrats and politicians live like kings on the bribes they routinely accept from the military contractors who court them. Yet the 'market' continues to spin the story of Greek debt as one of a slovenly coddled underclass who has demanded a free lunch and now refuses to pay their taxes. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is the elites in Greece, as they continue to do everywhere, are the bloodsuckers who've drained the Greek treasury dry. Now, because the 'markets' have used Greek debt as an insurance swindle, the banksters are in fear of losing some of their ill-gotten gains because [load willin] Greece is going to default on the swindlers and dump the military pimps who've stolen their country.

There's a lesson here for us in Canuckistan too. Remember all the cash Mulroney was caught with in the hotel room? Remember Hans Schreiber, Air Canada and the Areobus? Remember the helicopter deal the last Conservative government tried pushing through? Now what about the $25 billion the lying Harperites want to spend on the needless jet fighters? How much baksheesh do you think the various Harper cronies are in line for from McDonald-Douglas?

German 'hypocrisy' over Greek military spending has critics up in arms - Athens' fondness for weaponry, and willingness of Germany and France to feed it, under fire as Greece struggles with debt crisis

Learning About 'Sheep to Shawl' and More From Fran and Simon at Periwinkle Farm

Just down the road here in Black Point south of Powell River is the wonderful little Periwinkle Farm. Stopped by there for a visit a few days ago and learned tons about their beautiful flock of Babydoll sheep and about Fran and Simon's hard work and dedication to their passion about fibre and their larger vision.

Fran and Simon breed Olde English Babydoll Miniature Southdown sheep on their small acreage. The little sheep are extremely cute and very friendly. They sell sheep to folks starting their own flocks of course but most interesting to a know nothing like me is their 'sheep to shawl' production. Once a year the Babydolls are sheared, then their wool is washed, carded, spun, and woven or knitted into a finished product. Fran showed me various samples of the angora and wool fibres at their different stages, a visit to her blog shows the process in pictures and words.

Fran and Simon also mill organic flours which they sell at the local farmers' markets. They also make fresh multigrain pasta with the organic grains that they sell locally.

During my tour of Periwinkle Farm i also learned about their greater vision of expanding their business horizontally along the lines of the Fibershed Project's model. Their plan is to bring other local folks, weavers-knitters-spinners-farmers-clothing designers-etc. into a local community collective that produces clothes and goods from local fibres, made with local labor and sold to local folks. This small scale, local, hands on business model is the future for all types agriculture, all types of production really, be it now-because of the carbon footprint issue and the value gained by keeping the money circulating in your own community-or out of necessity in a post-economically collapsed future. Small is beautiful at Periwinkle Farm

Ernest Callenbach's [Author of Ecotopia] Last Words to an America in Decline

Just finished reading a fantastic unpublished article found on the computer of Ecotopia author Ernest Callenbach after his death, it's titled 'Epistle to the Ecotopians: Last Words to an America in Decline'. Callenbach's novel Ecotopia, published in '75, changed the paradigm of millions. In his last few months, knowing his ultimate fate awaited ,as it does for all of us, he wrote another excellent visionary treatise full of truth but less optimistic than his famous novel which was so influential on the counterculture, and the green movement then and now.

The last 3 paragraphs of this article, quoted below, encourage us to "embrace decay, for it is the source of all new life and growth":

Humans tend to try to manage things: land, structures, even rivers. We spend enormous amounts of time, energy, and treasure in imposing our will on nature, on preexisting or inherited structures, dreaming of permanent solutions, monuments to our ambitions and dreams. But in periods of slack, decline, or collapse, our abilities no longer suffice for all this management. We have to let things go.


All things “go” somewhere: they evolve, with or without us, into new forms. So as the decades pass, we should try not always to futilely fight these transformations. As the Japanese know, there is much unnoticed beauty in wabi-sabi -- the old, the worn, the tumble-down, those things beginning their transformation into something else. We can embrace this process of devolution: embellish it when strength avails, learn to love it.


There is beauty in weathered and unpainted wood, in orchards overgrown, even in abandoned cars being incorporated into the earth. Let us learn, like the Forest Service sometimes does, to put unwise or unneeded roads “to bed,” help a little in the healing of the natural contours, the re-vegetation by native plants. Let us embrace decay, for it is the source of all new life and growth. - Ernest Callenbach (1929-2012)

Epistle to the Ecotopians: Last Words to an America in Decline by Ernest Callenbach - Let us embrace decay, for it is the source of all new life and growth.

Greek Voters Sending a Message That Scares the Elites Worldwide

Today is election day in Greece and France and citizens of both countries are throwing the bums out. But it's in Greece where the real cutting edge of anti-capitalist, anti-elite, anti-banker induced austerity is cutting the deepest. "The 'crisis' has revealed a creative potential among a large part of the population in Greece. There is no doubt that Greece is today at the forefront of global resistance against capitalism. Creativity and steadfastness of the resistance movement to inspire people's fights across the continent. But it also scares the elites - worldwide." - AlJazeera.com

The far-right in Greece is being used as a scare tactic against the radical left and the prospects of a popular rebellion by the elites. The war of the elites is not against fascism - or racism, for that matter. The existential threat to their regime comes principally from the prospect of a popular uprising which should have been underway already.

As The Mud Report has said before the solution for Greece to its elite induced debt is to gallop out of the Euro, to re-establish the Drachma so its value can be allowed to be cut. An article, 'Argentina's Model, an Alternative to Austerity', two days ago by Mark Weisbrot gives great voice to the same argument and shows clearly that Argentina's record levels of employment and massive reductions in poverty have little to do with exports. All the beleaguered Euro-zone economies now suffering under the policies currently being imposed – especially the weaker ones – are similar to what Argentina went through during the depression that led to its default and devaluation.

Argentina's population stood up to their elites and threw them out of power despite exactly the same 'chicken little' type scare mongering by the IMF and World Bank. Now a decade later Argentina is leading the western world in growth, not simply economic growth, but growth in pride, growth in achievement and is a shining example for all of us everywhere that scares the 1% who sees that it's nearing the end of its reign of terror everywhere.

Why Climate Science and Environmental Studies are Always Open to Attack by Skeptics

There were two excellent large scale studies released this week, one on the disaster of biodiversity loss, the other on the rapid changes in the temperature of the deep ocean beneath Antarctica. Both studies are done by large multi-national teams of highly respected researchers. Both are peer reviewed and published in the most respected scientific journals in their fields.

First out was the study 'Deep Ocean Beneath Antarctic Responding Rapidly to Climate Change'. The researchers in this case said, "The causes of the observed changes in the Southern Ocean are not yet fully understood. Changes in winds, sea ice, precipitation, or melt of floating glacial ice around the edge of Antarctica may be responsible. Further that, "The Southern Ocean is particularly important because it stores more heat and carbon dioxide released by human activities than any other region, and so helps to slow the rate of climate change," Dr Rintoul said. "A key goal of our work is to determine if the Southern Ocean will continue to play this role in the future."

Second is the study 'Biodiversity Loss Impacts as Great as Climate Change Impacts' The researchers found in their experiments that high levels of extinction had effects that were as great as ozone, acidification, elevated CO2 and nutrient pollution. "These extinctions may well rank as one of the top five drivers of global change." said ecologist Bradley Cardinale of the University of Michigan, one of the paper's co-authors. As a result, there has been growing concern that the very high rates of modern extinctions--due to habitat loss, over-harvesting and other human-caused environmental changes--could reduce nature's ability to provide goods and services such as food, clean water and a stable climate.

There are two types of science. One type is where operations are performed on consistant/controlled substances and whose results are repeatable, where there are controls and where the variables in each test can be changed so the various results can be compared. Of course, there we have only one earth so there can never be an unaltered control to test hypothesises against. Which brings us to the second type of science, that where the testing of hypothesises is done by running as many variables as possible on a computer model.

This modeling is always a rough [sometimes very rough] estimate of all the countless variables the real earth- the real environment has. Consequently all scientific experimentation done through modeling has some margin of error, no modeling type science can or will ever turn out an absolutely certain result. So all environmental science, all climate science, uses terms like may or could when stating their results. Here then is the door the skeptics always enter the conversation through. Nothing in climate science or environmental science can ever to certain to 100% because we only have one earth. Consequently scientists in those fields invoke the Precautionary Principle.

BC's NDP Deserves Credit for Formally Registering its Opposition to the Enbridge's Northern Gateway Project...Finally

BC's official opposition, and heir in waiting, finally came out a few days ago and registered its position to the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel into the Enbridge's Northern Gateway Project, good on 'em. Mostly good anyway. They do start off with a whining economic preamble designed to mimic Queen Christy's about how BC is taking the risks and Alberta is getting the dough. This hedging argument leaves the NDP open to changing their position in the future when Alberta's bribes start rolling in. But that said, their bullet points about why they object are all environmental. So they get a B+ on this one i guess.

All across Canada critics are slamming the Harper government both for their outright one-sided pro oil cabal changes to the Environment Act and for the underhanded process they are using to avoid any real debate about the wide range of harmful effects their oil industry uber-alles agenda will create.

Among the many effects of the Conservative governments agenda is the question that came from Tzeporah Berman's son the day after the news media reported that the federal government was contemplating changing the definition of domestic terrorism to include environmentalism. Her son asked, “Mommy, why does the government think you are a terrorist?” Branding good hearted people who oppose them as terrorists and child molesters is Harper's divide and conquer strategy. Hopefully it will backfire on him and his cronies across the country. Here in BC it looks like the NDP is headed for a huge majority win in the next election and this issue will probably be the one that unites the province on that upcoming election day.

If though BC's united general public opinion combined with the near unanimous agreement among First Nations doesn't work to stop the Harper government and his pipelines, if he and his cabinet decide to go ahead anyway it could lead to civil war at the BC-Alberta border. If it does, they can count on one grey haired old man and his best friend Pancho the wonder dog to be dug into the mud willing to fight to the end to protect the wild. So will many others.

May Day Event in Powell River was the Best of Times and...

Millions took to the streets around the globe yesterday making, and as Chief Dan George once famously said, "my heart soar like and eagle". At first glance there appeared to be as many issues around the world as there were participants and languages. A busy day for sign makers for sure. But were the specific issues of all the folks near and far really so different or just different symptoms of the same disease?

In Asia many carried signs demanding equal rights and social justice. In Europe many signs decried austerity programs. In N. America it was the banks and corporations that most focused on. These general issues, of course, were intermingled with the outcries of the more specific injuries that folks are suffering because of the inequities in resource allocation and class discrimination in their various locales and cultures.

Though our little gathering of occupiers in Powell River BC was at best symbolic it was fun. Mostly, like PR's demographics generally, our little gang was made up of retirees who, by virtue of our age, are survivors of the 60's protest movements. 'It was the best of times' in that we had many a passerby who honked their horns, waved, raised the peace sign and smiled broadly. 'It was the worst of times' in that it was discouraging to see none of the young people who so adamantly share their feelings on the OPR Facebook page actually showed up to show them on the street.

The few people who did stop to talk with some of our sign wielding grey haired group asked the same basic questions that seem to be being asked by folks both in the media and in general. "What do you want, what are your demands?", they asked. For many folks this lack of one or two key demands and non-existent organizational structure make the Occupy movement incoherent at best. But for me and others the Occupy movement has never been about specific demands. It's been about the issues of class awareness and inequality. It's about how the 1%  have bought our governments and, IMO, the Occupy movement has already won a huge victory by instilling into the worldview of folks everywhere the 99% vs. the 1% meme. We are the 99%, that is the issue the unites our seemingly disparate worldwide causes from every Wall St. to every Main St. around the world.

May Day Protests Circling the Globe

Marchers in Istanbul, Turkey

May Day moved beyond its roots as an international workers’ holiday to a day of international protest today. Banging drums and waving flags, tens of thousands of workers marked May Day in European cities with a mix of anger and gloom over austerity measures. Taking the baton from Asia, where unions demanded wage increases as they transformed the day from one celebrating workers' rights to one of international protest, workers turned out in droves in Greece, France and Spain.

In Macau, about 500 people marched for workers’ rights and full democracy - in Hong Kong, more than 1,000 joined a protest march - in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, some 500 people rallied-In Taiwan, several thousand anti-government protesters marched through downtown Taipei - in Indonesia, thousands of protesters demanding higher wages paraded through traffic-clogged streets in the capital, Jakarta - in the Philippine capital, Manila, more than 8,000 marched - around 100,000 people in Moscow took part in the main May Day march through the city centre - in debt-crippled Greece, more than 2,000 people marched through central Athens - in France, tens of thousands of workers, leftists and union leaders were marking May Day with marches and rallies- tens of thousands filled the streets of Spain's cities and towns [Barcelona pictured above]. in the United States and Canada, demonstrations, strikes and acts of civil disobedience are planned in hundreds of cities and towns.

There's also marches in Turkey - in Kathmandu - in Mexico City - the  complete list is impossibly long. By tomorrow we'll know how big today's uprising has been, including our Occupy Powell River protest march later this afternoon. It will be interesting to see if today's worldwide protests will inspire the 99% to rise up to the global cabal of banksters and corporations that that now control our governments and our futures. If nothing else-there's always hope.

Harper Government's Covered-up of Secret Bank Bailouts in 2008-9 Another Multi-Billion Dollar LIe

Canada's banking system, often lauded by government spokespersons and experts alike for being one of the world's safest, actually accepted tens of billions in government funds during the recession, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. During the peak of the financial crisis, support for Canadian banks reached $114 billion—$3,400 for every man, woman, and child in Canada.

Details uncovered in this report contradict repeated government assurances that Canadian banks did not need extraordinary support. Nothing could be further from the truth. Three of Canada’s banks drew support that was worth more than the total value of their company. "It would have been cheaper to buy every single share in these companies," David MacDonald, author of the report said.

At its peak, CIBC received $21 billion in support — almost 1.5 times the value of the company at the time. BMO maxed out at $17 billion or 118 per cent, Scotiabank peaked at $25 billion or 100 per cent of its value, while TD and RBC maxed out at $26 billion and $25 billion — good enough for 69 and 63 per cent, respectively, of the total value of those companies at the time. During the same period the banks themselves reported a profit of 27 billion dollars and their managers helped themselves to huge bonuses on the taxpayers dime.

While the details around the American bank bailouts are fully available to the public (due to a legal challenge forcing this information into the open), the Canadian federal government and Bank of Canada have refused to answer any questions about the bailouts. "Despite Access to Information requests for the data, the Bank of Canada refuses to release it," the CCPA report states.

The refusal to answer questions is the really troubling part of this story. Is Canada a democracy or not? Are we now so numb to the continuous lies told by our government for our own good that it doesn't even matter any more? This specific story is a Canadian one but the general story is the same in the US, the EU, everywhere in the 'developed' world.. A cabal of bankers and corporations owns our governments. They do what they want when they want and answer to no-one.


The Big Banks' Big Secret by David MacDonald - Estimating government support for Canadian banks during the financial crisis.

Workers at Lakeland Mill Complained of Pine Beetle Killed Wood Dust Before Explosion but Management and Union Did Nothing

Blasts linked to dry sawdust are nothing new in BC's forest industry, Worksafe BC issued an explosion warning to sawmills and wood product manufacturers on April 27, 2010. "A layer of dust as thin as a dime dispersed throughout a room can create an explosion hazard. If combustible dust collects in a building or structure or on machinery or equipment, it must be safely removed before accumulation of the dust could cause a fire or explosion.” read the WorkSafeBC warning. Despite that warning, however, WorkSafeBC has never specifically established what constitutes an unsafe level of combustible dust.

The difference between a 'warning' and a 'regulation' is huge in lawyer speak. Who is liable and what constitutes a crime both turn on these two little words as is clearly spelled out in Bill C-45. Bill C-45 is federal legislation that amended the Canadian Criminal Code and became law on March 31, 2004. The Bill established new legal duties for workplace health and safety, Basically, as long as an employer follows Worksafe BC's regulations they can't be sued or held criminally responsible for their actions [or in-actions] regarding workplace/worker safety.

Worksafe BC, being a government agency, can't be sued for liability or held criminally responsible either. It's a setup even the mafia would love. As one employee of the Lakeland Mill said after the explosion, "Who runs WCB? Who runs RCMP? Who runs BC safety authority? Who runs BC coroners service? Politicians. Who runs the politicians? Businessmen." His statement and that of many others can be found in the comments here. That's why the RCMP came out within 48 of the Lakeland blast saying there was no criminal intent.

There have been a series of meetings, both public and private, where employees of the Lakeland and Burns Lake mills have blasted BC government safety regulators, namely Worksafe BC and the WCB, along with the RCMP and the mills owners. Very little of this has made the mainstream media because they, the media could be sued for liable. But the employees of the mills know what's going on, the employees everywhere in the forest industry know what's going on, and it's capitalist greed. The owners of the mills will collect millions of dollars in insurance and won't be liable for the death or injury or loss of wages or loss to the local economy or anything else because the law and Worksafe BC protects them. Who protects the workers? Apparently not their unions.

Perhaps coincidentally in the last few weeks a number of reports concerning the projected shortage of timber in the northern BC region is being cited as the reason the Burns Lake mill may not be rebuilt and why there will be huge closures and job losses throughout the region. Perhaps not.

Harper Government Deserves Credit For Supporting the Dalai Lama

Yesterday Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the international conference being held in Ottawa that the Canadian government supports the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Laureate on which Canada conferred honorary citizenship in 2006. Prime Minister Stephen Harper later met with the Dalai Lama on Friday afternoon. Official Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair also met with the Dalai Lama Friday afternoon, a spokesman confirmed, with a small group of MPs from all parties.

Harper met with the Dalai Lama on one of the spiritual leader's previous visits to Canada, in October, 2007, drawing a rebuke from the Chinese Embassy. The Conservatives have huge trade ambitions with China, which considers the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist. But several Tory caucus members were on hand to lend support to the Tibetan cause, including Sen. Consiglio Di Nino, who heads the Canadian parliament’s Friends of Tibet group.

The Dalai Lama is one of the most beloved people of our era. His beaming smile, his honesty, his self-deprecating humour, his giggles as well as his simple life and philosophy are a blessing to all who are ever in his presence. Once, many years ago, i was lucky enough to attend one of his lectures at UBC in Vancouver. His talk that night centered on kindness. His words and his grace changed my life for the better and live within me to this day.

The Mud Report has been very critical of Harper and his Conservative government's policies on many occasions, but in this case mr. mud wants to give credit where credit is due. The Harper government is, in this case, not acting solely in the best interests of his corporate, banking and oil interst friends. In fact this move will surely draw the ire of China's leadership and could well lead a cooling of relations, including trade relations, between Beijing and Ottawa. My congratulations to Stephen Harper and his government, on this issue he and they have stood for the greater good, stood for principle and stood against totalitarianism.

Occupy Powell River to Join May 1st Worldwide Day of Solidarity Demanding Economic Justice

At last night's General Assembly the members of Occupy Powell River voted unanimously to participate on May 1st in International Workers Day, with a demonstration and march starting at 3:30 PM in front of the Federal Government offices on Duncan Street.

A call has come, from OWS, from Occupy Canada, and from the people of the world. This call out is to stop working, stop school, stop shopping, stop driving, stop consuming from this corporate machine and take to the streets. OPR is answering the call to this worldwide day of protest in solidarity with the 99% and all those around the world demanding economic justice. JOIN US, stand up and take back our common resources, our common wealth and our futures.

To learn more about The May 1st day of action here are a few very informative links:

May Day Directory: Occupy General Strike In Over 125 Cities

The May 2012 Insurrection

Occupy Powell River - Decolonize Everywhere

Canadian Fisheries Act Changes to Eliminate Protection of Fish Habitat a Boon to Oil and Mining Interests

Fish habitat will no longer be protected in Canada under a new law from the federal government.  Fish habitat had been defined as spawning grounds and nursery, rearing, food supply and migration areas on which fish depend directly or indirectly in order to carry out their life processes. The new bill will remove references to fish habitat altogether.

"This is about the fast-tracking of the Conservatives' agenda for pipeline projects,” Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said, "shifting protection only to fish of economic value ignores that many fish key to an ecosystem actually do spawn in ditches or flooded fields." She pointed out that many important waterways contain fish eaten by seabirds, bears and other animals that don't directly benefit the recreational, commercial or aboriginal fisheries.

Environmental lawyers at the West Coast Environmental Law Association said the effect of the new Fisheries Act changes would be to exempt many major developments from fisheries review. "We know from experience whose interests are favoured when the federal government uses legislation to pick and choose what fish habitat gets protection - the legalized use of fish lakes as tailings ponds, and new rules that will recklessly fast track megaprojects that could result in devastation of fish habitat," Jessica Clogg, the group's senior counsel, said in a statement. "Today's announcements are peppered with new loopholes and exemptions that come at the expense of fish and those whose livelihoods and cultures rely on healthy fish habitat."

Why would they do it? Why, in the face of nearly unanimous opposition by native groups, environmental experts, legal advisers and the general public would Harpo's Conservative government jump into another PR quagmire? Money honey. These, and all their brethren, folks are deluded fundamentalist neo-cons. They believe, they have the "God" given right to dominion over everything. Everything, from the insane respective of a christian fundamentalist, has been created to serve the true believers.

An Honest Day's Work for an Honest Day's Pay

The New York Times today published a great article by Mark Bittman about his recent visit with Wendell Berry titled 'Finding Patience in an Era of Emergency'. Wendell Berry is one of the truly great men of our time and a mudite hero. Naturally then, he's been nearly totally ignored by the larger culture, especially corporate media. Wendall Berry personifies leadership from the bottom. He is the author of more than forty books of essays, poetry and novels. He has worked a farm in Henry County, Kentucky since 1965.

Bittman's article led me to the one of the greatest pieces i've read, perhaps ever. It's a transcript of the 2012 Jefferson Lecture titled 'It All Turns On Affection' delivered two days ago by Wendell Berry at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts In Washington D.C. Please read it, it's very moving, very powerful and shows why many, including myself, call Berry the prophetic American voice of our day.

Berry walks the talk. He has practiced and preached the virtue of  jobs based on hard work, on an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Having worked hard all my life i understand the value of sweat, the feeling of accomplishment earned by hard work, the feeling of pride in the product created by one's own hard work, and how much better the beer tastes after having earned it.

Berry understands well that inappropriate technology has displaced the honest work that once made Americans [and Canadians] truly wealthy and has wrong-headedly attempted to replace that weal of the many with riches for the few. Wendell Berry understands how capitalism is squandering the earth's natural bounty and poisoning it's inhabitants all in a short-sighted, short-term quest. Berry knows that one day this too shall pass.

“Because a thing is going strong now, it need not go strong for ever. This craze for motion has only set in during the last hundred years. It may be followed by a civilization that won’t be a movement, because it will rest upon the earth." - E. M. Forster

Preppers are Preparing for the Collapse of the World Economy and Becoming Self-Sufficient

Started thinking about today's research topic - 'Preppers' - a few days ago after watching a documentary on The National Geographic Channel. Being an old fogey i thought the term prepper meant the same thing as survivalist did back then. But as the show unfolded it became clear that many of today's preppers have coping with economic collapse as their motivation which fits in nicely with my general doomer type 'collapse is our only hope thesis'.

One of the first places Google.ca suggested was The Canadian Prepper Network. It's a very neat place, full of fantastic ideas for self sufficient living in the here and now. It's gardening, food processing, storage and preparation entries alone are fantastic. This site is a wonderful resource for everyone trying to live simply, trying to feed their family healthy foods, trying to escape the rat race, etc. and has almost zero weirdo conspiracy theories.

Then, after about a half hour of great fun, next stop was The American Prepper Network, also very interesting but after just feeling the totally good vibes of the Canadian version it was instantly apparent that their are two different cultures in our two countries. The American version also has some very cool self-sufficiency pieces but they are kinda mixed in with gun culture security stuff, American exceptional-ism and seasoned with more than a dash of Jesus. Next up, culture shock #2 at The End of the American Dream where a person quickly learns that in America today, there are millions of "preppers" that are working feverishly to get prepared for what they fear is going to happen to America.

The whole thing was very interesting, learned lots. Sure glad i moved to Canada 43 years ago.

Was it Earth Day Yesterday or Ostrich Day?

Yesterday and last night after working in the veggie garden i channel surfed and clicked my way around checking out the coverage of Earth Day. Almost every bit was meant to be uplifting or emotionally moving. Almost all focused on how each of us in our own little way, doing our own little bit can, when all the bits are added together, change the world. It made me wanna puke.

There they were, dozens of well meaning folks planting a couple hundred trees, all the bright smiling faces, the parents and the kids. Then, as the camera pulled back, there was a momentary glimpse of the parking lot full of SUVs they'd arrived there in directly behind them. There were folks learning which dish detergent to buy, which window washing fluid, which bathroom cleanser was the best 'green' product. But, and watching the TV muted is great for this, as the camera panned around it showed these dedicated folks living in huge houses, with elegant furnishings, with expensive appliances, wearing trendy new clothes and...well you get the picture.

Meanwhile as hundreds of Canadians rode their bikes to demonstrate their love of mother earth thousands of others lined up in their idling gas guzzlers at the border crossings to go shopping at the American malls. Our species is catapulting toward disaster and, as Naomi Klein points out, even the tiny minority who are trying to make a difference are being led by professional environmentalists into believing they can avert catastrophe by consuming "green" products .

As William Rees, the inventor of the Environmental Footprint concept, points out, "Even if every person on the planet made every change possible in their lifestyle the effect would be marginal at best." The green movement attacks their opponents as 'deniers' but in fact those skeptics may be in considerably less denial than environmentalists who paint a picture of global warming Armageddon then tell people it can be avoided by buying 'green' products, recycling and creating clever markets in pollution. To be sure life itself will go on with us or without us, but only the total collapse of our gluttonous culture can save us, the rogue primate, from self destruction.

Consumers are Lined Up to Buy Green Products on Earth Day

The fact is we can't consume our way out of over-consumption. Earth Day is 42 years old today and the best thing i can think of to do to participate is to work in my little garden. Gardening, touching the earth, remembering that there's no there there, are my meditations on Earth Day.

We, the flora, fauna, microbes, minerals, forces and faeries are all in this together. We embrace the self-serving delusion that we are separate from 'the environment' in order to allow ourselves to live as we do without going insane.

Live simply, want less, everyday is Earth Day.

Redistributing Wealth 'The Motaleros Way'

All the 'democratic' countries of the west now suffer under governments who are so corrupted by whatever special interest groups support their stranglehold on power that we've ended up with regressive sales taxes instead of income and asset taxes, with the abandonment of the notion of a commons and the corporate right to person-hood. Inevitably, in such a scenario, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Seldom does a scenario come along that reverses the flow of wealth. But one does, it’s The Motaleros Way. In short it’s the story of Canada's less and less underground 'green economy'. It's routinely stated in the mainstream media that the motaleros bring $6 billion annually into the BC economy. Estimates are that over 100,000 work in BC’s underground green economy.

Where does all this money come from? Lots of it comes north from the US. Why? Well a combination of millions of American pot lovers and a government down there that is all to willing to throw out its Bill of Rights and the democratic will of its own citizens in numerous state referendums, creates 'that huge sucking sound' we hear up in BC.

Where does all that loot go? When little guys spend their loonies it's at the grocery market not the stock market. It's on bills and stuff in their home town. Law enforcement research has shown repeatedly that the majority of BC bud is grown by small mom and pop operations. But whoever grows them every plant takes huge amounts of labour to grow and process. Even the criminal types with the warehouses are employing tens if not hundreds of people each somewhere in the production/distribution lines. All those people have families just like you and I. Without all those thousands of motaleros spending all those $6 billion bucks to create other jobs in their communities we’d be seeing an even faster growing disparity between rich urban and poor rural lifestyles here in BC.

To conclude, The Motaleros Way is huge, it's everywhere and it's supporting many of our communities all across Canada.