Occupy Wall Street, Powered by Big Labor

In late September, major labor unions mostly watched from the sidelines as the Occupy Wall Street protests grew from a ragtag band of diehards camping in a park into a fledgling movement grabbing national headlines and sparking similar protests around the country. Now, Big Labor is going to work: endorsing the protests, offering manpower and resources, and helping stage a major march in New York City's financial district on Wednesday. They are adding organizing muscle, fresh energy, and greater numbers to the boisterous demonstrations that began in downtown Manhattan more than two weeks ago.

Among those now jumping in is the New York State United Teachers, the Empire State's largest union, representing 600,000 educators. In an interview Tuesday, spokesman Carl Korn for the first time publicly offered NYSUT's support for Occupy Wall Street and its message about shrinking income inequality, investing in public education, and making the rich pay their fair share in taxes. "Teachers and public employees represent the other 99 percent; they are not in the 1 percent," Korn said, echoing the theme of an Occupy Wall Street Tumblr gone viral. "We're supportive of that overarching message."

Obama Jobs Bill: President Challenges Republicans On $447 Billion Plan

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama challenged Republican leaders on Tuesday to put his entire $447 billion jobs plan to a vote, rather than breaking it up, to show American voters "exactly where members of Congress stand."

Obama, a Democrat facing a tough re-election battle in November 2012, sent bills for trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to a seemingly receptive Congress on Monday but the mood in Washington has otherwise been fractious as his jobs package comes apart at the seams.

Republicans say the proposal -- a mix of stimulus spending and tax cuts for workers and small businesses plus an end to some tax breaks for corporations and the rich -- will never pass as a whole but that certain parts are worth considering.

On the Texas leg of his "pass this bill" tour, Obama chided Eric Cantor, Republican leader in the House of Representatives, for saying he would not allow a vote on the measure. The White House said the plan could save or create about 400,000 education jobs, including 39,500 in Texas.

Occupy Wall Street Mass Arrest Resembles Infamous, Costly Police Tactic, Critics Say

WASHINGTON -- Ben Becker, 27, sat in the back of a police-commandeered transit bus on Saturday night, his hands placed tightly behind his back in plastic cuffs. He'd been marching on the Brooklyn Bridge as part of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. And like hundreds of other activists railing against the inequities of the financial system, he had been swept up in a mass arrest by the New York Police Department.

Becker was one of the first placed in custody. His bus filled up fast. They waited, tied up for hours, and did not know their charges, Becker said. For many, this was new: the march, the chanting, the arrest.

"Some of the teenagers on the bus were extremely nervous," Becker said.

But this was a scenario Becker knew well. He was the named plaintiff in the Partnership for Civil Justice's 2001 federal class-action lawsuit against the District of Columbia, known as Becker v. D.C. That case stemmed from the D.C. police department's mass arrest of anti-IMF/World Bank demonstrators on April 15, 2000. Becker was one of nearly 700 people arrested during that march. He was 16 at the time.

Border Security Deal Between Canada And U.S. Reached, Will Come With $1 Billion Price Tag

OTTAWA - A much-ballyhooed perimeter security deal between Canada and the United States will come with a $1-billion price tag for new border facilities and programs to make trade and travel easier, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Conservative government will use money cut from existing programs to cover the hefty cost of the international pact — an attempt to protect the continent from terrorist threats while speeding the flow of people and products across the 49th parallel.

The deal, as described by several sources, is more evolutionary than revolutionary, falling short of the grand vision outlined with fanfare eight months ago when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced negotiations.

Emblematic of this reality is the fact there are no immediate plans for a prime ministerial-presidential announcement of the agreement — to be unfurled this month — because the Prime Minister's Office has been unable to persuade the White House to make Obama available.

Canadian officials are heading to Washington this weekend to make a final pitch for a public signing ceremony.

As Unions, Students Join Occupy Wall Street, Are We Witnessing Growth of a New Movement?

As the Occupy Wall Street protest enters its twentieth day, New York City’s most powerful unions are set to march today from City Hall to the movement’s encampment in the Financial District. The demonstration will be bolstered by the walkout of potentially thousands of students at major public universities in New York City where tuition rates are on the rise. Meanwhile, similar "occupation" movements are springing up in cities around the country. On Tuesday, the Greater Boston Labor Council, representing 154 unions with 90,000 workers, supported the Occupy Boston encampment for shining "a spotlight on the imbalance of power in our nation and the role that Wall Street has played in devastating our economy." We host a discussion about whether the Occupy Wall Street movement is sparking a diverse, grassroots movement for economic change. We’re joined by Kai Wright, contributor to The Nation magazine and editorial director of ColorLines.com, where he wrote "Here’s to Occupying Wall Street! (If Only That Were Actually Happening)." We also speak with Arun Gupta, an editor with of The Indypendent, and of “The Occupied Wall Street Journal,” a newspaper affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, where he published an article titled, "The Revolution Begins at Home."

Video
Source: Democracy Now! 

F-35s' pricetag of $9B 'more honest,' Fantino says

An overall $9 billion cost estimate is more honest than relying on individual plane costs, says the minister handling the purchase of Canada's new fighter jets.

Despite a promise by manufacturer Lockheed Martin that Canada will get its F-35 fighter jets at a cost of $65 million each, Julian Fantino, Associate Minister of National Defence, says the government's overall $9 billion estimate is the more honest number.

The cost of the F-35 depends on the number of planes ordered by other countries, as well as on how early Canada wants to get its order. The manufacturing cost goes down as more planes come off the assembly line, with Canada expecting the U.S. to absorb the bulk of the F-35's development costs.

"There are just so many variables, and that’s why I think the more honest, ethical response to all these issues is the $9 billion figure, which in fact will be the ceiling that Canada will be investing in these particular aircraft," Fantino told Evan Solomon, host of CBC's Power & Politics.

"We can have this debate up, down and sideways, but the reality is that we are trying to do the best we can, being very responsible with taxpayer dollars."

Canada has ordered 65 fighter jets. The $9 billion total cost estimate breaks down to more than $138 million per plane.

The $9 billion estimate includes training and maintenance costs.

A number of experts have disputed the cost of the planes, including Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page and former defence officials. An American procurement expert from the U.S. General Accountability Office estimated the F-35 A, the model Canada is buying, would cost between $100 to $115 million each.

Origin
Source: CBC 

Supervised injection sites: Ideology comes with big blinkers

In the ongoing struggle between ideology and evidence within the Harper government, ideology too often wins.

The entire field of criminal justice features the government’s determination to ignore evidence. Occasionally, the evidence is so incontrovertible, and the means for forcing it on the government so forceful, that the government has no choice but to adjust course and, in a few instances, to actually retreat.

So it will be with the supervised injection site in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside after the Supreme Court’s unanimous support of the program’s continuation and its utter rebuff of the Harper government’s opposition to it.

The minister at the time of the government’s appeal against supervised injections at the Insite clinic was Tony Clement, now under justified assault for boondoggle spending in his constituency surrounding last year’s G8 summit in Huntsville.

Mr. Clement, as the then-minister of health, tried to justify the unjustifiable in the face of overwhelming medical and scientific evidence about the nature of drug addiction and how to cope with it. He did the same routine in mid-2010, trying to defend the Prime Minister’s decision to scrap Statistics Canada’s long-form census in the face of overwhelming opposition from every knowledgeable Canadian in the field of statistics.

Canada, U.S. reach agreement on $1B perimeter security pact

OTTAWA—A much-ballyhooed perimeter security deal between Canada and the United States will come with a $1-billion price tag for new border facilities and programs to make trade and travel easier, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Conservative government will use money cut from existing programs to cover the hefty cost of the international pact — an attempt to protect the continent from terrorist threats while speeding the flow of people and products across the 49th parallel.

The deal, as described by several sources, is more evolutionary than revolutionary, falling short of the grand vision outlined with fanfare eight months ago when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced negotiations.

Emblematic of this reality is the fact there are no immediate plans for a prime ministerial-presidential announcement of the agreement — to be unfurled this month — because the Prime Minister’s Office has been unable to persuade the White House to make Obama available.

Canadian officials are heading to Washington this weekend to make a final pitch for a public signing ceremony.

Somalia Blowback: After Deadly Mogadishu Bombing, A Look at How U.S. Fueled Militant Islamist Threat

In Somalia, at least 70 people were killed yesterday in the capital of Mogadishu after a large truck bomb exploded near a government compound that housed the Somali cabinet and eight ministries, including the Ministry of Education. The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which maintains control of much of southern Somalia. Many in the country blame its refusal to accept Western aid for causing the deadly famine now accompanying a massive drought in the Horn of Africa. We’re joined by award-winning investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, who was recently in Somalia to report for The Nation magazine. His article "Blowback in Somalia,” examines how U.S. policy there has helped create a militant Islamist threat.

Video
Source: Democracy Now!