Official Trailer for Israeli Apartheid Week 2013

Featuring Rafeef Ziadah, Naomi Klein, Abir Kopty Salim Vally and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi
Visit: http://www.apartheidweek.org for the full international schedule.
The song is dark tunnels phil monsour.

Fire Kevin Campaign hits 500+ signatures in five days

The cold hard truth, Mr. O'Leary, is
that is people's needs come before
corporate greed!

Rebel Youth magazine is very happy to announce that in five days our petition to the CBC "Fire Kevin O'Leary" has achieved over 500 signatures from like-minded people across the country.

Although a modest success by some measures in the world of social media, for a small and basically volunteer-driven publication like ours, it is a big achievement. It suggests there is probably a strong current of public opinion critical of Mr. O'Leary and what he represents.

You can sign the petition here.

Together with the signatures, people have been sharing their perspective on why Kevin should be shown the door. For us, these comments are more rewarding than the volume of signatures.

"I love CBC and listen to and watch many programs, both on the radio and on TV. However, I am very disappointed that CBC keeps Mr OLeary on their airwaves. He is arrogant, rude and belligerent. I refuse to watch any show that includes him," says one commentator.

Another person added: "This guy is so offensive and so ignorant, it disturbs me greatly that CBC is featuring him in not one but two programs. I have stopped watching CBC television because of him. He is a national embarrassment and I expect better from my public broadcaster."

These sentiments are not uncommon.


You can read more at the petition site, but we've gone through the hundreds of comments and positive feedback we have received so far and chosen one or two quotes from each part of the country.

I am proud union member who is the voice for the people who cant stand up for themselves. I wouldnt be able to stand up for people without my union because if I go against the employer as an advocate I would be fired. Unions bring working people both union and non union workers up to a decent wage. Mr OLeary need to be fired for his attack on working people and unions
Terry Archibald  VANDERHOOF, BC

Great campaign to WAKE US UP. O'Leary is not "cute" or irrelevant.
Douglas Meggison EDMONTON, ALBERTA

Kevin O'Leary does not speak for the Canadian majority. He speaks for the 1% and continues to endorse the slash and burn mentality that profit over anything including human rights. He should have no place on my television.

Diane Taylor  SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN

Chief spokesperson for the vicious agenda of "money‑over‑everything" and "greed is good. THE KEYWORD is GREED.
Kerry Williams  WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

Working people have had their standard of living attacked and lowered over the last thirty years and Unions have been a part of that anti-worker mentality. The purpose of this? Reduce labour costs and increase profits for a few obscenely wealthy individuals and corporations. I especially resent even one cent of my tax money contributing towards paying Kevin O'Leary at CBC--a publicly funded media outlet. Get rid of him NOW! It's time to take out the trash.

Wanda Brown TORONTO, ONTARIO

Because we need less ignorance about socialism.
Ed Belk KINGSTON, ONTARIO

I had a draft to send to CBC. Your petition comes at the right time. I also hate the way he treats women on the panel and guests.
Louise Jarret MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC

"Flambe the rich" was a button I use to wear when younger but Mr O'Leary with his rude comments etc. want me to look for it and wear it once again in his presence. This rude and ignorant union-hating bastard MUST be silenced NOW. Thank you.
Al Arsenault  SAINT JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK

Hi is an idiot and disrespectful to everyone!!!
Doug Gaetz  LAKE LOOK, NOVA SCOTIA

His anti-union spiel shows a complete lack of information. he is a hate monger of groups who have strived to make the working class more comfortable and safe.
John O'Rourke  ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND

Sign the petition today! Click here.

Two types of corporate media produced by the ruling class: for the working class, and for itself

These two charts display the claimed viewer and reader demographics for the ultra-right Sun News TV station, which is currently trying to win approval for "mandatory distribution" from the Canadian Radio-Television Commission, and Canada's "national" English-language newspaper, the Globe and Mail. (Web capture done on February 5th 2013.)

Feature essay on youth culture and war

Peter Miller and Daniel Lyder

Tommy Smith and John Carlos

An oft-repeated opinion in the sports media is that sports and politics should absolutely never mix. If an athlete chooses to use his or her spotlight to voice or display a social or political opinion sports journalists, sports owners, and sports executives will often voice their disapproval.

One of the most famous examples of this is Tommy Smith and John Carlos. The two African American athletes at the 1968 Games were stripped of their medals for their famous Black Power raised fist salute, wearing black-gloves in civil rights solidarity.

More recently, at the summer Olympics in London, Damien Hooper, an aboriginal boxer from Australia, was threatened with expulsion by the Australian Olympic Committee for wearing a black T-shirt with a picture of an Aboriginal flag, while warming up in the ring before a fight. Hooper had broken the Olympic games policy preventing athletes from representing flags unapproved by corporate sponsors.

Fidel and Camilo Cienfuegos play baseball
as the team "Bearded ones"

Shut up and play

Yet there is an immense self-serving irony contained in the ‘shut up and play’ culture perpetuated by the media.  Sports are constantly used by right-wing corporate forces and the military to promote their own pro-war, aggressively nationalist and repressive agendas. Therefore, the truth is that sports journalists, owners, and sports executives actually believe that sports and progressive politics should absolutely never mix.

Iconic ESPN host “Big Game” Brent Musburger famously analyzed Smith and Carlos’ demonstration by saying at the time "Perhaps it's time twenty year-old athletes quit passing themselves off as social philosophers."

Musburger has never apologized for his remarks.  And the attitude hasn’t changed much since then.

Consider the incredible backlash against Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen last year for simply admitting that he ‘liked’ Fidel Castro. Guillen was forced to recant at length or lose his job and was suspended for five games.

NFL 'salute to serive'

Military cheerleading

Yet anyone who’s watched an NFL game or the recient Super Bowl could easily attest to the open and unquestioned platform for pro-military viewpoints: from troop displays during the national anthem, to fighter jets buzzing over the stadium, to the bizarre statements and subsequent “USA” chants throughout stadiums announcing the killing of Osama Bin Laden and his family.  Their official website proclaims that "supporting the military is part of the fabric of the NFL."

In fact, capitalist countries like Canada and the USA actively use the sports "business" to promote the military and imperialism.

Canadian professional sports franchises openly promote war in conjunction with the mass media and the government. While the old Winnipeg Jet's logos (from 1972–1996) featured a civilian airliner, the True North Inc. new design explicitly pays "homage" to the Air Force with a fighter jet.

The federal and Manitoba provincial governments contributed over 11 million dollars to the construction of a new arena for the Jets to play in, quite a unique form of advertising.

Cherry signing bombs

Don Cherry

Perhaps the most infamous hockey ‘analyst’ in Canada is Don Cherry who makes a $700 000 salary, paid from public money, and uses his airtime to promote xenophobia, anti-Quebec nationalism and war during Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. In 2010 Cherry signed bombs and went as far as actually firing a shell when he visited occupied Afghanistan.  He later received an honorary degree from the Royal Military college (although not without protest) for his work supporting the war.

Unlike what the Harper Conservative government and Don Cherry would have us believe, however, the war in Afghanistan is not about justice or women’s rights. As Yves Engler points out in his latest book, The Ugly Canadian, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has supported decrees from religious leaders in the country stating that women must be subordinate to men, and cannot be in public without their male partner or family member by their side.

This war, like all wars undertaken by the military industrial complex, has generated enormous profits for ‘defence’ corporations in Canada from the public purse.

The new Winnipeg Jets Logos

Case study: the war in Libya

Canada was ranked 6th in foreign military sales in 2009, according to the Federation of American Scientists Arms Sales Monitoring Project.

Perhaps then it is no surprise that the Winnipeg Jets’ new logo is a blue circle with a metallic grey silhouette of a McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet Fighter Jet above a red maple leaf.

This is the same plane used by the Canadian Forces to bomb Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Libya. In fact, the Winnipeg Jets military logo was revealed during Canada’s war in Libya.

Despite claims of humanitarian intervention or "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) which is often heard during the military cheerleading at sports events, the Libyan War was pursued for the benefit of big corporations and oil wealth. NATO simply used the Arab Spring to intervene and interfere with another country’s sovereignty.

Libya had bigger than average royalties on oil corporations. Its nationalized oil company interfered with profits for companies like Suncor, Canada’s largest energy corporation.  And the Libyan regime was an inconsistent ally of imperialism.

The US-led NATO alliance thus saw an opportunity to influence Libya’s uprising and actively supported the "Transitional National Council" to further increase profits, secure a geo-strategic military foothold in Africa and the Mediterranean, and push-back against the inroads of Chinese capital into Africa.

Canadian Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, officially commanded the NATO campaign signing off on every pre-selected bombing target.  15 Canadian Aircraft went on 15,000 missions and dropped at least 700 bombs.  On one occasion, a strike from NATO is alleged to have killed 47 civilians, and the total civilian death toll is estimated to be much higher.

Doctors Without Borders ended up pulling out of Libya, refusing to be complicit in the NATO mission and noting that they were actually treating many captured pro-Gaddafi soldiers who were tortured by rebels. (Gaddafi repeatedly called for a ceasefire, yet the NATO-backed rebels refused.)

Meanwhile, Don Cherry was busy praising the new Winnipeg Jet's logo.  "How could you do better than to honour the people who lay their lives down for us?" he told Sun News.

Canadian Forces Appreciation Night

Raptors Canadian Forces Night

Military cheerleading in Canada reaches beyond hockey and into sports like basketball as well.  On Saturday January 26 the Toronto Raptors held their 6th Canadian Forces Night at the Air Canada Centre. The Team and cheerleaders wore camouflage jerseys while pro-military programming aired during breaks throughout the game.

After the game, Raptors players, the coaching staff, and cheerleaders posed for a group picture with Canadian soldiers. Raptors and Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment described the camouflage jersey and Canadian Forces Night as a “natural extension of the Raptors and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment’s long-standing support of Canada’s military”.

The Canadian Forces Night was used by the Canadian Military to advertise it’s growing "brand." The Canadian Government spent 353.6 million dollars on public relations for the military in 2010-2011.

Advertising the military targets Canadian youth with commercials on television, ads on campuses across Canada, as well as recruitment displays at sports and public events. When sports franchises further help promote the Canadian Military with nights like the Canadian Forces night, Canadian youth are pushed to fall into a trap, join the military and become cannon-fodder for imperialist wars.

Positively, groups like "Hockey Fans For Peace" are taking on commentators like Don Cherry and calling on the anti-war movement to become more active and visible on sports issues, and in general.

Maybe it is time to flyer future Raptors games that have Canadian Force Programming and tell sports fans of the working class why it is wrong to support war and militarism.

Make hockey not war

Canadian Imperialism Flexing its Military Muscle

The Raptors game and the militarization of sports is taking place at a time when the Harper Conservative government seems to be constantly flexing Canada's military muscle. Canadian troops are still on the ground in Afghanistan. The Canadian government is also getting involved in the French-led and US-backed occupation of Mali.

Canadians are also faced with the threat of our country following NATO to go to war in Syria and Iran. While Canadian-based corporations do not officially have any direct investments in the country, Iran has a tremendous amount of oil wealth.

American and Canadian imperialist interests do not like that Iran provides oil for China. Canada’s government is basically lying about nuclear weapons in Iran to try to sway public opinion and start another war allied beside Israel, America, and NATO.

Despite claims of a 'peace dividend' after the overturn of the Soviet Union and socialist countries, military spending is 2.3 times higher in Canada now than during the peak of the Cold war. The Harper Conservatives ever-increasing military budget is being prioritized over public healthcare, public education, affordable housing, universal childcare, and other important social services like publicly funded recreation and, perhaps ironically, non-commercial sports, culture and physical activities.

Cuba's womens national volleyball team

Sports for a world at peace

While the Canadian Government is setting up military bases around the world, it’s the youth who are faced with a future that, for the first time in generations, is predicted to be worse materially than our parents.

Let us show fellow sports fans that the future does not have to be this way. Instead of joining the armed forces, let us convince the youth to join social movements. Together we can stop another greedy war by hitting the streets!

Progressive-minded and peace-loving people must not shy away from pushing back against the pro-military agenda on the sports field, arena, or court. Sports are part of popular culture and it is important to use this venue to get anti-war and socially positive messages across.

An important beginning is to recognize when anti-establishment political opinions are voiced by athletes, and to support those to the best of our ability. It doesn’t help that some of the most powerful examples of this is given no attention in the media or quickly drowned out..

Together, we can also promote a radically different sports culture.

Speaking at the United Nations on resolutions in support of sports for peace and development, socialist Cuba said that sports should "undoubtedly strengthen solidarity and friendship among peoples" and that for Cuba, after the Cuban Revolution, "sports ceased to be exclusive and became a right for all the people."

International Association of Red Sports
and Gymnastics Associations, c. 1928

Cuba has also condemned "athleticism that was purely motivated by financial gains," and "the theft of sport talent from developing countries."  "Let us invest in projects for the sake of education, sport and health”, instead of on weapons Cuba has said.

Officially, much of the past rhetoric of international sports and the Olympics also opposed war, like the "Olympic Truce."  The World Festival of Youth and Students traditionally holds an anti-imperialist soccer match at each gathering.

It is time that sports in Canada promote fair play and cooperation, as well as friendship, internationalism, and solidarity -- not militarism, elitism, or crude consumerism. Recreation, leisure time, and democratic culture like sports culture are rights and not privileges. Its time to stand up, together, for these rights and sports for peace!

Funny video rips up Harper

The British Columbia Federation of Labour Youth Committee have released this video featuring "Stephen" Harper tells us a story of a Canada without unions. Check it out!

Palestinian Communists say: Independence Now!

Independence now is the direct goal following the recognition of the state of Palestine as an observer at the UN.

December 30, 2012

The Palestinian People's Party Central Committee held its regular meeting which discussed in details the entire developments affecting the Palestinian cause at the present phase. The Central Committee also reviewed the changes in the region and their ramifications on the Palestinian cause; in addition, it discussed the step that should come after the "non-member state" status of Palestine at the UN.

   The meeting discussed the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip which led to the martyrdom of 200 citizens, including dozens of women and children, and the injury of hundreds of citizens, and the destruction of dozens of homes and installations. The Central Committee extended a salute to the martyrs of the Palestinian people and wished fast recovery to the injured, and freedom to the heroic prisoners inside the occupation prisons. The Central Committee expressed pride in the steadfastness of our people who confronted the aggression, and praised the magnificent popular unity and solidarity of our people who continue to cling to their legitimate rights and reject all schemes that aim to divide our people.

   The Central Committee saluted our people in the Diaspora refugee camps, especially the camps in Syria, calling for more efforts to keep them away from the atrocities of the conflict in Syria and stressing on the need to protect them and provide them with relief supplies.

   The Central Committee extended congratulations to the Palestinian people on Christmas and New Year celebrations and the anniversary of the Palestinian revolution. The Central Committee discussed the ongoing preparations to hold the fifth conference of the party and decided on a series of organizational measures to this effect.

   At the conclusion of its meeting, the Palestinian People's Party Central Committee issued the following statement:

FIRST

The Palestinian People's Party Central Committee believes that the step at the UN to achieve the member status for the state of Palestine or attain the non-member status, and the Palestinian position rejecting to resume negotiations without halt of settlements and compliance to the UN resolutions, aimed to cause a core change in the rules of the political process and its framework; it also aimed to improve the Palestinian position in light of the current balance of powers and the peace process which was exploited by the Israeli occupation to consolidate occupation and settlements.

   The current Palestinian position aims to reach a new unified Palestinian strategy towards achieving the legitimate and inalienable rights of our people in self-determination and the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital and ensuring the rights of the Palestinian refugees, mainly the right of return according to Resolution 194.

   The Central Committee pointed out that the success in mobilizing international support towards the recognition of the state of Palestine as non-member state at the UN aimed to achieve the following:

1- To stress on the role of the international community, mainly the UN, and its responsibility for implementing its decisions and achieving peace in the region, especially in light of Israel's rejection of any UN role and its insistence to reproduce the negotiations process according to the same old formula and framework which led to its failure in the past, and in light of the Israeli attempts to exploit the peace process to execute more settlement expansion and impose new facts on the ground.

2- To stress on the terms of reference that pertain to the negotiations issues in accordance with the UN resolutions and the international will, mainly to define the borders of the Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with al-Quds as its capital, according to the borders of June 4 th , 1967. Such an approach would block the Israeli attempts to consider the changes on the ground as basis for any negotiations process and the claim that these territories are disputed lands. In this context, the Central Committee believes that the UN and its organizations have to regain their role in any future political process. The resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council have to be the terms of reference, including the end of the occupation on the Palestinian state territories as recognized by the UN and recognizing the borders of the Palestinian state and its capital and to reject settlements in all their forms on the Palestinian state territories.

3- To reiterate the goal of establishing the Palestinian state and the unity of its territories amid the attempts to detach and isolate Gaza Strip from the West Bank, especially since the Israeli unilateral withdrawal from Gaza Strip, and through the intensification of settlement activities in the West Bank. There is also the Israeli scheme to Judaize Jerusalem and the siege imposed on Gaza Strip. All this is happening while there is internal split between Gaza Strip and the West Bank, thus endangering the project of the Palestinian state and regression of international support to it.

4- To reinforce the UN resolutions and invest their benefits in improving the legal, political and diplomatic capacity to struggle against the Israeli occupation. This can be done through developing bilateral relations and recognitions of the state of Palestine and upgrading the level of diplomatic representation, and through joining international agreements and treaties and in the UN organizations. Such efforts can reinforce international recognition in the state of Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people; they also provide a chance to track down Israel for its continuous violations to the International Law and the international Humanitarian Law.

5- To refuse the attempts that aim to transform the Palestinian Authority, which was established as a temporary interim authority, into a permanent authority under occupation. On the contrary, efforts must be exerted to achieve the goal of establishing the Palestinian state and garner international recognition towards Palestine full membership at the UN, and end the occupation on its land, which is an urgent task of the Palestinian state. There is also a need to reconsider the agreements and commitments of the PA with Israel, and this must come to protect the Palestinian achievements in building the PA institutions on the path to build the independent state.

SECOND 

The Central Committee stressed that achieving the above-mentioned issues means that the direct central task of the national movement is the immediate end of the occupation and the independence of the Palestinian state which was recognized by the UN; all this must go in line with the struggle to realize the right of return for the Palestinian refugees in accordance with Resolution 194; therefore, the motto of the current phase is Independence Now and we have to mobilize all efforts of the Palestinian people in order to achieve this and we need also to work towards finding the Arab and international solidarity elements; this can be done through:

At the Palestinian level:

1- To start organizing large-scale centralized popular moves that can begin with mass protests and sit-ins until they reach massive demonstrations in all the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It must be a growing process that can create a comprehensive movement of popular resistance against the occupation under the slogan of "Ending the Occupation and Realizing the Palestinian State". It is important that Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are included in these moves in order to portray and reflect the unity of the Palestinian people around the goal of establishing the state. In order to do so, we have to unify the bodies of popular resistance and build a unified front for popular resistance from all the forces; we need also to form a central command for this front that assumes the responsibility of leading and organizing and guiding these popular moves at the central level. Poplar committees and bodies need to be established also in the districts; we can also gain from the rich experience of our people in the struggle and make use of the morale that followed the Gaza battle and the voting at the UN. This requires also mobilizing support to the Palestinian people inside the homeland and in the Diaspora, as the conditions allow in each area.

2- To accelerate work and end the internal split and build national unity on the basis of a joint struggle program and implement what has been agreed upon in Cairo and use it as basis to deal with all developments; to make use of the positive atmosphere that emerged following the aggression on Gaza and the voting at the UN.

In this context, the Palestinian People's Party calls for:

* To accelerate steps and hold the command meeting in order to activate the PLO; this meeting includes the general secretaries of the factions and the Executive Committee and the Speaker of the Palestinian National Council and some independent figures; at the conclusion of this meeting, the participants must announce the steps that aim to end the internal split.

* To form an establishing council for the Palestinian state on a temporary basis (it might be for one year). This council includes the members of the PLO Central Council and the Palestinian Legislative Council and national figures. This should be an interim phase until holding the Palestinian National Council and legislative elections and presidential elections.

* To form a national reconciliation government on the basis of the new situation, including the possibility of reducing the size of the government, taking into consideration the former decision of the Central Council regarding the Palestinian state government.

* To interact with all Palestinian people and communities and mobilize the potentials of the Palestinian people and activate the PLO role, including activating and holding elections in its unions and bodies.

3- At the Palestinian Authority level:

* To reconsider the commitments of the PA with Israel, especially in the security and economic fields, and in all other matters, including services, and start work to implement this according to a well defined plan.

* The PA has to focus its priorities on supporting the popular movement as mentioned above and support the steadfastness of the people when confronting the increasing occupation measures and offer them basic services in the health and education fields and amend the PA priorities and plan on this basis.

* To adopt an emergency financial budget in order to confront the situation and its priorities and recruit funds externally and internally and link the whole process of spending with the requirements and priorities of the above-mentioned plan and program.

* The elements of this plan are based on the following: collective responsibility for the financial burden and this means that the lower-income employees must not bear the burden alone; to support the health, social and education services and secure the minimum level of financial resources; to guide the legitimate popular moves against the occupation steps of stealing the PA funds; this must be a step and part of the struggle to end the occupation; to discuss all legal moves to hold Israel accountable at the international level; to achieve consensus on this plan with the popular sectors and this should be part of the current efforts to hold a socio-economic conference.

4- To start making changes in the PA institutions in a manner that matches the new status of the state of Palestine.

THIRD

At the Arab and international level

- To interact and communicate with the Arab brotherly peoples and their democratic forces and make use of the current transformations in the Arab world in order to garner support to the struggle of the Palestinian people.

- To focus the Palestinian efforts on boycotting Israel and imposing sanctions on it because of the continuous occupation, the aggression, the ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination.

- To interact with the international solidarity forces and the boycott movements and form a unified committee that can work with them in order to organize a centralized international solidarity campaign based on boycott and the decision of The Hague.

- To interact with the representatives of the Arab parties and forces and coordinate with them to this effect.

FOURTH

At the level of international agreements and organizations and diplomatic struggle:

- To work with the UN in order to end the occupation and cling to this demand and push towards imposing sanctions on Israel which violates the international law and denies all UN resolutions.

- To start work towards joining the international agreements that assist in exposing the occupation and holding it accountable for violating human rights and war crimes and for attacking civilians, mainly Geneva Third and Fourth Conventions and Rome Charter and other agreements.

- To join all international organizations and UN bodies, mainly the committees and commissions that work to support our struggle against occupation, such as the ICC; this work should be part of an integrated agreed upon plan.

- To activate cases and special meetings of the UN organizations, mainly to head towards the Security Council on the issue of settlements. To call for the resumption of the conference of the high contracting parties to the Geneva Convention. To call on the UN General Assembly to assume its responsibilities in the context of (Uniting for Peace) and other steps that demand from the UN to use its role and charter towards the end of the occupation on the Palestinian state lands and achieve the rights of the Palestinian people.

- To activate all causes and potential efforts to impose sanctions on Israel because it continues to violate the international charters.

FIFTH

The negotiations:

* The Central Committee warned of the attempts to push the Palestinian side to return to negotiations; this might undermine the success that has been achieved at the UN; the Central Committee calls for linking any such call with the halt of settlements and to abide by the international resolutions and secure that the UN sponsor any future negotiations on the basis of negotiations between two states with the aim of ending the occupation of the lands of the Palestinian state and resolve the issue of the refugees on the basis of Resolution 194.

Rebel Youth launches petition against Kevin O'Leary

Rebel Youth magazine has launched a campaign as our next issue goes to print. Each issue we publish features someone we think stands out as self-appointed spokesperson for the 1%, the big guys or perhaps most accurately, the ruling class. With a smile, we call it the class enemy of the month. In association with this story, we are running a campaign at change.org to Fire Kevin from the CBC. The petition statement is below. We encourage people to check it out and online. We will be posting more updates over the next weeks.

Sign the petition here.

Kevin O'Leary is a multi‑millionaire and owner of the asset management company O'Leary Funds. He has appeared with Amanda Lang on CBC's The Lang and O'Leary Exchange since 2009, and stars on the shows Dragons Den and its US counterpart, Shark Tank on ABC.

"Fire Kevin O'Leary" is urging the CBC to dismiss this notorious venture capitalist "dragon." Mr. O'Leary is abusing his position at the CBC to explicitly promote his own for‑profit businesses. He is hijacking the public broadcaster with a socially destructive message of corporate greed, privatization, selfishness, and austerity.

These shows are really about catering to the Harper Tory government and its "slash-and-burn economic action plan". It is ironic that the CBC seems to have become a bastion of right‑wing commentators like Rex Murphy and Don Cherry. In this group, Mr. O'Leary stands out as a chief spokesperson for the vicious agenda of "money‑over‑everything" and "greed is good," which is being used as an ideological battering ram against young workers and all people in Canada.

Thus he is the face of the poverty‑creators, the job‑destroyers, the union‑busters ‑ basically, of the austerity agenda.

Researching for the campaign, Rebel Youth magazine found a series of cases where Mr. O'Leary called unions a "parasite" on business.

"Elect me as Prime Minister for 15 minutes," Mr. O'Leary said on a show. "I will make unions illegal. Anybody who remains a union member will be thrown in jail." He adds that "Unions are sheer evil [...] Unions themselves are born out of evil. They must be destroyed with evil", and "no one could contain unions in hell. They were so evil they came out of hell and they came upon earth."

These remarks, which could have come out of the mouth of a fascist dictator, prompted several complaints. The National Union of Public and Government Employees wrote that "Trade unionists are beaten and murdered in many countries around the world, simply because they believe in workers acting collectively to improve workplace conditions such as pay, hours of work, health and safety, and job security. [...] Mr. O'Leary's wilful promotion of contempt and hatred towards unions reflects a viewpoint that has often ended in violence perpetrated against union members and leaders."

The CBC Ombudsperson, however, refused to intervene.

Its time to restore and increase funding to the CBC so they don't have to cater to the O'Learys of the world to win adverstizing revenue.  Sign our petiton today and send CBC, Mr. O'Leary and his supporters a clear message: its time for Kevin to move on and get a new job.

25 years after Morgentaler, struggle continues to defend and expand the reproductive rights of women

This article is the first part in a series we are running on Rebel Youth in preparation for International Women's Day on March 8th.

In the same week as women and men celebrate the 25th anniversary of the historic Morgentaler decision which decriminalized abortion in Canada, a group of right-wing Harper Conservative MPs want to push women's reproductive rights back into the dark ages.

The latest attempt to attack abortion rights has come from three Tory MPs: Maurice Vellacott of Saskatoon-Wanuskwein in Saskatchewan, Leon Benoit of Vegreville-Wainwright in Alberta and Wladyslaw Lizon of Mississauga East-Cooksville in Ontario.

In their letter (addressed to the RCMP Commissioner on House of Commons letterhead) the MP's demand the RCMP launch a "national investigation" into abortions after 19 weeks gestation calling them "possible murders."  

Blast from the 80s - The trouble with normal

Bruce Cockburn

Strikes across the frontier and strikes for higher wage
Planet lurches to the right as ideologies engage
Suddenly it's repression, moratorium on rights
What did they think the politics of panic would invite?
Person in the street shrugs -- "Security comes first"
But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse

Callous men in business costume speak computerese
Play pinball with the Third World trying to keep it on its knees
Their single crop starvation plans put sugar in your tea
And the local Third World's kept on reservations you don't see
"It'll all go back to normal if we put our nation first"
But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse

Fashionable fascism dominates the scene
When ends don't meet it's easier to justify the means
Tenants get the dregs and landlords get the cream
As the grinding devolution of the democratic dream
Brings us men in gas masks dancing while the shells burst
The trouble with normal is it always gets worse

Witnessing a glimpse of the real Cuba

Peter Bazarov

What is Cuba? Ask the average American, and it is very likely that you will hear some variation on JFK’s “imprisoned island” hokum, where that small island is described as a testament to the bearded tyranny that is seemingly endemic to the developing world.

Ask the average Canadian and you will probably hear a description of softly lapping waves, cheap but delicious rum, and how they bought a t-shirt with some fellow named Che on it for only $10.

But if you were to leave the privileged confines of the West, if you were to go to the villages of Angola, to the streets of South Africa, or to the Barrios of Venezuela, you would hear about the shining example that Cuba presents in the face of Empire. You would hear about the sacrifices that the  Cuban people have made and still make, sacrifices in the name of solidarity with the people who Franz Fanon called “the wretched of the Earth”.

All of this in mind, a question emerges: what is Cuba?  And which description is right?

For me the answer didn’t come from a book, a film, or a “CNN Special Report”. I was able to witness a glimpse of the real Cuba when I went on the 20th annual Che Guevara Volunteer Work Brigade, and saw for myself the beautiful nuances and complexities of Cuban life.

The Brigade was a three-week long program that took me and 40 other Canadians (fellow Brigadistas as we called each other) through the Eastern half of Cuba, and was centered primarily in the pleasant and slightly dreamy city of Holguin (the capital of Holguin province). The city became a defacto base camp for the Brigade as we had a packed itinerary that saw us visit a diverse collection of locales ranging from medical centers, to wind farms, to opera houses.

Each daily trip offered a glimpse at the life of the Cuban people in a way that you could never otherwise see; a glimpse of Cuban life that did not hide the difficulties and the struggles of the Cubans, but also revealed their resilience, optimism, and continued vigor in building a better world.

The most amazing surprise of the whole experience however, was not something mentioned in the pamphlets or in the itinerary. Even considering all that was planned and organized, much of the trip placed us at full liberty, and it was during this time that everyone was able to explore and understand the Island on entirely their terms.

The adventure and idiosyncrasies of such exploration are not easily generalized, so instead allow me to share a personal anecdote of one of the more interesting free roaming experiences of the trip.

This particular adventure began on May Day, after we had been in Cuba only two days. As this was our first day of free time, a number of Brigadistas (including myself) decided to dedicate the day to unbridled exploration; it was as good a day as any, and the annual May Day parade provided a colorful backdrop to our anticipated adventure.

What we didn’t anticipate was the lack of directional sense that afflicted everyone in our little group. Now getting lost in Cuba is not a heart-quickening experience by any stretch of the imagination, as crime is almost non-existent - I would venture to claim that the streets are more dangerous in Canada.  However, we were getting hungry and were not used to Cuba’s sweltering heat. Alas, our Spanish was poor, and with nary a peso in our pockets a Taxi back to our quarters was out of the question. Thankfully, we were rescued by an unlikely hero.

That afternoon a medical student by the name of Fares was walking home from the May Day Parade, and with him he had a large Palestinian Flag hanging off of a bamboo pole. Though our group spoke little Spanish, one person did speak Arabic, and when we saw the young medical student with the flag we were certain we were saved.

Lucky for us, Fares was not simply bi-lingual in Spanish and Arabic, he was a veritable polyglot and spoke fluent English among many other languages. Not only did he offer to direct us back to the hotel, but he also invited us for tea and lunch at the student residence.  Without hesitation we took him up on the offer, and our small group of adventurers quickly found itself sipping tea at the International Residence of Holguin University, discussing middle-eastern politics with Fares and his two room-mates.

As it turned out, Fares and his roommates had moved to Cuba four years ago from Palestine, enrolling in medical school thanks to Cuba’s policy of internationalist free post-secondary education.

The friendship between the Mayday rescuers and the Brigadistas quickly flourished and we would see Fares and his friends many other times throughout the trip. With their assistance and their knowledge of the city we saw the nooks and crannies of Holguin, the little art-galleries, the best salsa-halls, and the student haunts; indeed, they even brought us to a Deep Purple tribute concert where we heard an excellent if slightly accented rendition of “Smoke on the Water”.

Somehow, even with the daily excursions and the spontaneous adventure, the Brigade also engaged in volunteer labour (as per the name). The volunteer labour consumed only a small amount of time on the trip, but as I fondly recall those weeks it was the volunteer labour which brings the biggest smile to my lips.

The volunteer labour consisted of us Canadians helping out at a construction site for the first two weeks and at a farm for the final week. We worked side by side with everyday working class Cubans, doing the kind of manual work that is exhilaratingly different for a bookish student such as myself.

While the labour was obviously more symbolic than necessary (the Cuban workers were much more qualified to do farming or construction than most of the Canadians), it nonetheless decreased the workload for the labourers onsite, and provided an opportunity for us Canadians to bond with the Cubans through shared labour.

In my case, I hope that my broken Spanish mixed with wild gesticulation was enough to establish a connection with some of my temporary Cuban co-workers, and in this way foster a feeling of solidarity.

Among the tapestry of new experience and adventure that made up the Ernesto Che Guevara Volunteer Brigade, the tales above are but a single thread. By the end of the trip, a sense of Cuba emerged for all of the Brigadistas, a feeling that made us understand why that little island had survived in the face of such adversity and why it still needs our solidarity. We saw a Cuba that was complex but beautiful, a human Cuba that’s been too often hidden from our sight.

Get involved in the Brigade -- check out this link to the main site of the Brigade with all the details of the current adventure including prices and dates, and connect with more past Brigadistas over Facebook.

I get this call everyday...

Rebel Youth

David S. Gallant is a young worker who would rather be designing video games than working in a call centre.

Who can blame him? How many times are young people of our generation told we can grow up and be the dream we want to be -- only to find out we will be facing lower rates of pay than our parents, most often in jobs without unions, and a shredded public network of social programmes.

Instead of doing his dream in the creative arts, David found work at the Canada Revenue Agency.

Call centre work, as anyone who has worked there knows, is alienating and exploiting work.  And for literally hundreds of thousands of young people in Canada, especially in the East Coast, its how we pay our bills.

...Cue the audio book of the Communist Manifesto saying that "the modern working class developed — a class of labourers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labour increases capital. These labourers, who must sell themselves piecemeal, are a commodity, like every other article of commerce, and are consequently exposed to all the vicissitudes of competition, to all the fluctuations of the market."

David thought he found a way of pushing back, perhaps a bit in the style of the lone wolf, and made this video (above) to promote the game he titled... I Get This Call Every Day.

The tax man didn't seem to appreciate it. Now he's been fired from Revenue Canada.

"They terminated my employment as of Jan. 29," David told CBC news, who described the game as a scenario where users listen to calls from customers and are given options for how they can respond to the inquiries -- like "I'm not your buddy, sir" to rile up callers.

A statement the government issued stated that "The minister has asked the CRA to investigate urgently to ensure no confidential taxpayer information was compromised."

"I felt the need to express myself, and despite the fact that I could've lost my job for it, I still wanted to ensure that I got my art out there and I made it available to people," David also told CBC.

Maybe someone should make a meme: irony and sarcasm disqualify you from employment? Tell me more about your Robot Army of Wage Slaves...

At first glance it may seem like David is just mocking ordinary callers who dial into Revenue Canada, and of course he is. But really he is mocking the whole set-up of call centres.  He is mocking the powerlessness of call centre workers.  He is mocking the experience of being a cog in the wheel.

And frankly we all know that if David phoned his boss and asked for a pay raise or basic dignity at work, he would be, so to speak, 'hung up on.'

CBC also reports that "Gallant has received a slew of tweets of encouragement and says he almost doubled his daily rate of sales on Tuesday to about $500."

Is anyone surprised?

Solidarity with you, David Gallant, and all call centre workers. David should get his job back right away.

David should also have the right to contribute to society and do work that has genuine meaning. That would require a different social order than capitalism, however, where the bosses were out and the people run the show. But that's our socialist perspective, here at Rebel Youth. Maybe you agree.

Book Review: In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

By MaryCarl Guiao

In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate is a compelling tale of addiction, abuse, and compassion.  Mate is a practising physician in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and he based the book on two decades of personal experience and countless interviews with his patients.  The focus of the text is addiction but it covers everything from addiction to chemical drugs, to the author's own addiction to classical CDs.  This Canadian best-seller is written with exceptional elegance and style despite the depressing and sometimes horrific stories told within.  This book would appeal to both a professional audience interested in medical and treatment issues, but also to people who live with "hardcore" addictions seeking to put their own experiences into context, an understanding of their illness, and a path to healing.


The author makes it clear that conventional treatment and recovery are not exactly the end goal of his work.  It has more to do with compassion - he strives to let these people be who they are without judgement, and in the process helps them to reduce the harm they would otherwise inflict on themselves and the local community.  Canada's ground-breaking safe injection site is housed in the same building as Mate's office and is an example of this line of thinking: if you are going to inject yourself with drugs, at the very least you should have clean needles and medical staff nearby.  He takes issue with the punitive nature of Canada's drug laws and a society that "ostracises" those that become addicted to chemical drugs.  The non-profit Portland Hotel Society where he is employed offers a range of programs designed to meet the basic human needs of those who live and work on Vancouver's infamous Hastings Street.  Basic housing, meals, medical and dental care are the base services offered, and when the Society can afford it, they also organize camping trips, movie nights, and other social events to provide alternative experiences to some of Canada's most abused, shunned and forgotten inhabitants.


Vermin, disease and death are all too common in the lower Eastside and the opening pages alone recount details of over ten lives lost to the lifestyle of drug addicts.  The book is a mix of anecdotes, retold stories, and hard facts.  Almost every patient of Mate's is a convicted criminal, more than half are diagnosed with mental illness, and a third are HIV-positive.  But amidst the heart-wrenching details of poverty-stricken Hastings Street, the reader is struck with a sense of awe in how the book portrays these homeless, and in many ways helpless, individuals as human, and worthy of dignity and compassionate care.  Mate himself remarks how at times he feels "full of disapproval and judgement", but he also tries to recognize that the contradiction in his personal views originates within him, and that there is a power imbalance in the role he plays in their lives, and the role they play in his.


It is this element of self-reflection that makes the book ground-breaking and effective in facilitating healing.  While the first 100+ pages focus on crack, heroin and meth addictions, the later pages offer insight into the author's own "high-status" addiction: the purchase of classical CDs, of all things.  The switch is not only helpful to lighten the tone of an otherwise heart-wrenching subject matter, but it is also a very persuasive way to influence the reader to self-reflect on their own addictions.  The narrative allows one to appreciate how they too are influenced by many of the same primal urges of instant gratification that drive addiction, and to reflect on how it is that some of us get addicted to crack, while others seek pleasure in food, sex, or buying things like classical CDs.  The tell-tale signs of addiction, like hiding details from friends and family, are confessed by the author in the context of his addiction to buying CDs in a way that encourages the reader to deepen their understanding about their lives and addictive tendencies.  Aside from being an interesting literary style, it is an incredibly powerful way to generate a compassionate understanding by the reader of the ways in which they too could have been a crack addict if their life had been slightly different, and most especially if they were more frequently prevented from accessing opportunities to gain thorough and compassionate self-understanding.  


Mate is drawn to classical CDs partly because he was exposed to them early on.  Might the addicts in this book have been drawn to something else if their childhood involved different influences, ques, and precursors?

UK: Half of jobless youth suffering depression

Morning Star newspaper

A "frightening" wave of austerity-stoked chronic depression is battering young people across the country, researchers found today.

The Prince's Youth Trust (a UK charity - RY) found that 27 per cent of working young people are "always" or "often" depressed - while the figure rocketed to 48 per cent for those not in paid work, education or training.

More than one in 10 young people said they felt unable to cope with day-to-day life, rising to a fifth of those with neither employment, education or training, according to the trust's annual Youth Index.

Pollsters who surveyed more than 2,000 16-to-25-year-olds found a clear link to the economic crisis.

More than a quarter said they believed it had "permanently damaged" their career prospects - and a fifth of those out of work said they believed their self-confidence would never fully recover.

Youth unemployment currently hovers around 20 per cent, with the total number expected to reach more than a million again this year.

Those in work continue to see hours, pay and conditions dwindling.

Official figures in November showed that of the 316,000 new jobs since 2011, more than two-thirds were part-time - with an average 15.8 hours paying just £155 a week (or about $246 CND - RY).

Prince's Trust chief executive Martina Milburn said it was often those from the most vulnerable backgrounds who found it hardest to get work, creating a "demoralising downward spiral."

"A frightening number of unemployed young people feel unable to cope - and it is particularly tough for those who don't have a support network," she said.

The survey follows an alarming study in August directly attributing more than 1,000 suicides since 2008 to the economic crisis.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool found 846 men and 155 women took their lives during the last four years over and above pre-recession trends - meaning around two-fifths of the rise in suicides among men could be attributed to rising unemployment.

Suicidal protests are also on the rise. In December an 18-year-old Torbay man set himself on fire after being refused housing, while a Birmingham man set himself alight outside a jobcentre in June.

Is the same thing taking place in Canada? Share your point of view and experiences in our comment section.

Graphic: Grand Theft EI (employment insurance)

Discussion: the student movement is my movement

The Canadian Federation of Students has released a new and polished video about the necessity for the student movement. Without making an over-analysis of a simple video, the Youtube can kick-off wider discussion about the situation of the student movement today and what needs to be done. Here are five quick proposed questions. Comments are open here, and on our RY facebook page.

1. What do you think about the problems or grievances listed in the video. Do you have experience with these concerns? How or how not? What is going on at your campus?

2. The goal of the film is to draw more people into a united student movement. Do you think the message is complete? How or how not? If you had only three minutes to talk to a student about the importance of united action, what would you say?

3. Would you make reference to the Quebec student struggle? Why do you think the video does not? What would you tell students about the Quebec student strike? What about other struggles, like Idle No More or against Bill 115?

4. In the dynamic of the student movement, is unity -- or as this Youtube says being 'united' -- enough? What is the connection between unity and struggle? Could they be opposites? Could they be linked?

5. How does this film compare with the YCL's perspective towards the student movement and our demands?


Note: RY will have news shortly about the big announcements in the past few days about Quebec tuition fees.