Ahmadinejad & Bush

One president comments on the success of the Annapolis conference, while another president comments on its failure. One believes that a two-state solution is practical in a 14-month time frame. The other, well, he believes that a two-state solution is unpractical because Israel is doomed to ‘collapse’.

So what are the flock to think of all this?

Well, think what you want.

Just remember that the Annapolis conference is part of a much broader picture. Until leaders with credibility - Abbas, Bush and Olmert are politically weak - are ready to pro-actively discuss the issues, any attempt at peace will fail. Retroactive solutions, like that of a junkie receiving methadone from a clinic, are destined to be a band-aid for the sixty years of violence in the holy land.

In the words of Ahmadinejad:

It is impossible that the Zionist regime will survive. Collapse is in the nature of this regime because it has been created on aggression, lying, oppression and crime.

Buy Nothing Christmas

How is it that we allow consumerism to enslave us?

Has consumerism become the motivating factor for the holidays?

When was it that corporatism took control of our holidays?

Can we be more environmentally conscious this consuming season?

Participate by limiting your participating. Buy Nothing Christmas.

Buy Nothing Day

Is it necessary to consume at the voracious pace we are?

Why is it so imperative that we spend more money than we have?

What will happen if we continue to live beyond our means?

Will our Earth recover from our extreme patterns of consumption?

Participate by not participating. Buy Nothing Day.

American backdoor antics (or keep it Canadian)

It is being reported that CanWest president Leonard Asper and Goldman Sachs managing director Gerry Cardinale issued a firm assurance that control of broadcasting decisions would remain in Canadian hands. This assurance is meant to give CanWest a majority of voting shares albeit in a minority position with a 36 per cent share in equity in the entity; meanwhile, 100-36=64 per cent majority position for the foreign investment bank, hooray!

While Goldman Sachs cannot cause CanWest to do anything, the foreign based partner has the ability to restrain CanWest from certain decisions and remains a role in strategic broadcasting decisions. Criticisms by the national actor’s union, ACTRA, in a recent statement have denounced the deal as foreign ownership of Canadian media through the back door. Union president Richard Hardacre believes ‘this deal effectively gives the US company control over a Canadian broadcaster, which is a violation of the Broadcasting Act and Canadian public policy.

Apocalypse Now

Melbourne neuroscientist Dr John Reid says he is skeptical about science’s ability to rescue humanity from over-population. According to research conducted by the Global Footprint Network in 2001, humanity’s ecological footprint had exceeded the Earth’s biological capacity by about 20 per cent. In 2006, the WWF Living Planet Report put the figure at 25 per cent. Dr Reid asserts that planet Earth cannot support the present human population and humanity must not delude itself with science fiction. Accepting the calculations and data by the Global Footprint Network and the WWF leads Dr Reid to one inescapable conclusion: to quickly reduce Earth’s population to five billion and then to further reduce that to two or three billion.

About Us

We are a small network of friends, writers, academics, and humanity who look to the future, with the past sharp in our minds. We want to advance a new social movement in the information age.

Our aims are to disrupt the inequalities and injustices perpetrated by the power structures in existence today and to promote positive social change.

Social Just Is offers insight to today’s issues ranging from politics and international relations to concerns of social inequalities and economic divide, here in Canada and across the universe.

At the end of the day, Social Just Is is dedicated to examining the changing human condition in the dynamic environment we live in. More than anything, we want a society of peace and harmony where economies and peoples strive for balance. Encouraging others to become involved in active debate and participate positively is of the utmost importance. Let’s not become disenfranchised; instead, let’s act.