Baird’s silence on Indian anti-gay law puzzles human rights experts

OTTAWA – He has hammered Russia, blasted Uganda and even gone after the state of Arizona.

All of which makes Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s silence on a tough anti-gay law in India puzzling to outsiders who have come to expect a strong Canadian statement when it comes to gay rights abroad.

Baird’s office says the federal government has raised the issue in private discussions with Indian officials, and that there is no “one-size-fits-all approach” when it comes to the issue of gay rights abroad.

Conservative message to ethnic voters is starting to look a little creepy

Nobody knows — maybe not even the prime minister — whether he will lead the Conservatives into the next election.

Since April of 2013, when Justin Trudeau won the Liberal leadership, he has been ahead of Stephen Harper in the polls. Trailing politicians always point out that the only polls that matter are the ones on election day, but such blithe assurances often conceal stomach-curdling anxiety.

Harper may have a secret plan to win the next election, or to avoid being bested by young Trudeau at the ballot box, he may declare victory and pass the reins sometime in the next 12 months.

'Dromocracy' Now: When the Streets Take Over

The mass demonstration as political act is nothing new. Major cities deal with them all the time: I saw Dr. Martin Luther King in Washington in 1959 at such a demonstration, and took part in Vietnam protest marches in San Francisco during the mid-1960s.

In the early 1980s, the anti-nuclear marches in Vancouver were major events. So was the protest against the Bill Bennett Socreds' convention in 1983, when an estimated 60,000 British Columbians surrounded it at the Hotel Vancouver.

Venezuelan Protests: Another Attempt by U.S.-Backed Right-Wing Groups to Oust Elected Government?

In Venezuela, at least six people have died in recent days during a series of anti-government protests. The latest casualty was a local beauty queen who died of a gunshot wound. The protests come less than a year after the death of Hugo Chávez and present the biggest challenge to Venezuela’s new president, Nicolás Maduro. Earlier this week, right-wing opposition leader Leopoldo López turned himself in to the National Guard after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest last week, accusing him of inciting deadly clashes. On Monday, Maduro ordered the expulsion of three U.S. consular officials while claiming the United States has sided with the opposition. Our guest, George Ciccariello-Maher, looks at the recent history of the U.S. role in Venezuela opposing both the Chávez and Maduro governments. He is author of "We Created Chávez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution" and teaches political science at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

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Source: democracynow.org
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Venezuela's growing middle-class revolt

On Monday, Venezuelans woke up to find barricades of pipes, trash and branches burning in the streets.

Improvised roadblocks, cutting off neighbourhoods from each other and from the central core of certain cities, appeared simultaneously in eight states of Venezuela, most of them in middle-class areas, and show no signs of letting up.

Venezuela protests: the other side of the story

Last week, we published a readers’ panel on the Venezuelan protests, sourced via GuardianWitness and Guardian comments sections. We sought to hear from those who were taking part in the protests, and those who supported them. We received many responses.

At the same time, a social media campaign was taking off, using#SOSVenezuela on Twitter and Facebook in particular, to highlight the situation in the country.

How One Right-Wing Christian Group Is Leading Arizona's March Toward Conservative Extremism

On Thursday, a day after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) vetoed the state's highly-criticized SB 1062 -- a measure that would have allowed business owners to reject services to any individual on religious grounds, which was widely seen as discriminatory toward the LGBT community -- the state House passed another controversial measure: the "Women's Health Protection Act," or HB 2884.

Canadians believe Tory election act settling scores

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians believe that the ruling Conservatives are settling political scores with their Fair Elections Act, a new poll has found.

And that skepticism about the motives of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government only rises among people who say they’re “fairly” or “very” familiar with what’s in the bill, according to the poll, conducted by Angus Reid Global.

“The more Canadians are aware of the Fair Elections Act, the more they oppose it,” is the headline on the poll findings, which were shared with the Star in advance of their release on Friday.

Linking ‘tax fairness’ to family stability, Kenney comes out in support of income splitting

Jason Kenney, one of the Conservative government’s most senior ministers, has launched a full-throated defence of the Tory Party’s controversial income-splitting campaign pledge, linking a policy that would ease taxes on households with stay-at-home spouses with the notion of a “stable family.”

The measure has come under fire from critics who argue the Tories should not follow through on a 2011 campaign pledge – contingent on a balanced budget – to allow parents with kids under 18 to share income for tax reporting. Even Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has voiced public misgivings about the fairness of a policy that would deliver lucrative tax breaks to 1.8-million households.

Fossil fuel drive spurs political radicalization in Canada

The anti-environment offensive by Canada’s fossil fuel industry and its flacks in government is radically shifting the political landscape of the country.

Each day, it seems, brings some new announcement and outrage being committed against Earth and the humans. More pipelines to be built, and more leaks and cover-ups of existing oil and tar sands facilities that poison the land and water. More threats of oil train disasters as the rail industry and governments claim they can make it safe. More Arctic sea ice loss and the disastrous consequences that will certainly result.