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I started writing this post in September, after the global Climate Strike . It was exciting to see that so many people -- millions around the globe -- understand the urgency and are willing to take to the streets. I thought,  This is beautiful! This is amazing!  ... and This won't change anything . Both at the same time. I hate writing that. I hate feeling this way. Along with Climate Strike, there are other positive developments -- extinction rebellion , for example, and an increasing number of civil disobedience arrests, both celebrity and ordinary . This will grow. More people will get involved and actions will become even bolder. Yet I feel utterly pessimistic about humanity's future. I have lost hope. Of course I know I'm not alone in that. Anyone who looks at the reality of climate change either cloaks themselves in denial, clings to shreds of hope, or vows to fight on without hope. For me, this hopelessness is a kind of identity issue. I reflect on my own fee...

Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day . The date commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, the first document of its kind. Every year on December 10, Amnesty International holds a global letter-writing event: Write For Rights ( in Canada ). Hundreds of thousands of people around the world write handwritten letters calling for action for victims of human rights abuses, and offering comfort and support to political prisoners. Every year at this time, I try to think of a different way to invite readers to participate in Write For Rights. All through this year, I've been struggling with cynicism and despair about the state of our planet and the state of democracy. So even though all the warm and fuzzy reasons  I've listed in the past (and below) are true and valid, the most important reason to Write For Rights is deadly serious. The world is seriously fucked up. Many, if not most, of us who care about the world feel helpless in...

Long ago (in internet terms), in the early days of what we then called the Blogosphere, one of the primary functions of blogs was to share other posts and articles of interest that we came across online. Social media has taken over that function -- and much less effectively. How many people actually read links they find on Twitter? While a meme or a short video may go viral, a lengthy think-piece becomes just another passing link in the endless feed. I stopped using this blog to share articles of interest, but sometimes I come upon something that I just can't let go. Then I need to send them out into the world again through wmtc. I have a couple of those right now. Here's the first one. * * * * Maya Moore, currently one of the best professional basketball players on the planet, stunned the WNBA and its fans when she announced she would not play in the 2019 season . Her reasons are even more surprising: Moore  left the game to focus on social justice . Specifically, justice for ...

Also: Why is Greta Thunberg so triggering for certain men , Jennifer O'Connell, Irish Times Canada's #climatestrike day is Friday, September 27.

Resistance to the migrant concentration camps in the US seems to be growing. Or maybe I'm just seizing on anything that looks like hope. I wanted to collect all the examples I've seen so far, then I'll post more in real time. June 2018: No Kids In Cages marches July 2, 2019: #CloseTheCamps protests in advance of the July 4th holiday. July 12, 2019: Lights for Liberty . Americans: GO. Direct action to free people: post their bail ! Indianapolis church puts creche scene in a cage Kansas kids' lemonade stand raising funds to help "kids at the border" Never Again Is Now: Boston protest shuts down the city.  Similar protests happened in many US cities. I love that these Jewish activists are claiming the streets. Law firm offers pro bono representation to any ICE worker who resists participating in family separation. This photo circulated with a story on a protest in Boston, but was taken at a protest in San Francisco. Workers at Wayfair walk off jobs , protesting...

I missed this when it ran in 2017, but I found it when I needed it. Rebecca Solnit writes in The Guardian : Last month, Daniel Ellsberg and Edward Snowden had a public conversation about democracy, transparency, whistleblowing and more. In the course of it, Snowden – who was of course Skyping in from Moscow – said that without Ellsberg’s example he would not have done what he did to expose the extent to which the NSA was spying on millions of ordinary people. It was an extraordinary declaration. It meant that the consequences of Ellsberg’s release of the top-secret Pentagon Papers in 1971 were not limited to the impact on a presidency and a war in the 1970s. The consequences were not limited to people alive at that moment. His act was to have an impact on people decades later – Snowden was born 12 years after Ellsberg risked his future for the sake of his principles. Actions often ripple far beyond their immediate objective, and remembering this is reason to live by principle and act ...

Thank you Alex Cora, Mookie Betts, David Price, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Jackie Bradley Jr., Hector Velázquez, Christian Vázquez, Eduardo Núñez, and Sandy Leon! These nine players and their manager declined to attend the White House visit purporting to honour the 2018 championship team. The Trump White House could not be bothered to spell the team's name correctly or name the actual sporting event that the team won. The World Series is the oldest professional team sports event in the United States, having been played since 1903. (The Kentucky Derby is older. Hopefully all the horses know that Trump's policies constitute a war on animals , and also boycott the visit.) Earlier this year, the Golden State Warriors (NBA) expressed doubts about a White House visit, and the invitation was withdrawn. Ditto for the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) after they won the 2018 Super Bowl. However, this silly headline , implying this is "nothing new", is false. Various individual p...

Friday's global student protest brought me so much joy. And also sadness, because I often feel so cynical about our ability to stop climate change. And also hope, because I won't succumb to that cynicism. I will fight it, and fight it, and fight it. Because our cynicism is the perfect weapon to be used against us. No evil genius could invent something more powerful than our own inaction. This photo gallery from the New York Daily News is wonderful. Very New York-centric, but with a global flavour.

Canadians, contact the Senate. Urge them to work together to pass Private Member's Bill C-262 , "An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ".  My own letter included at the end of this post, in the hope that it will help you write your own. * * * * Is Canada serious about reconciliation? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in 2015. The Calls to Action have been made. Recommendations have been made. How will Canada proceed? Territorial acknowledgements , long a feature of labour and other progressive activism, have entered the mainstream. More Canadian children will learn about the system of forced family separation, indoctrination, and horrific abuse euphemistically called "the residential schools". Good, and good. But what of Canadian law? What of business practices? Will it be business as usual, or will anything change? The TRC offered 94 Calls to Action . How ...

Harry Leslie Smith, who sometimes called himself "the world's oldest rebel," died in late November 2018. I was unable to acknowledge his passing on wmtc at the time. Smith, a writer and an activist, was a steadfast critic of neoliberal policies, especially the austerity agenda. He spoke out constantly and consistently for a more generous, more just, and more inclusive society -- in short, for the preservation of social democracy. His obituary in The Guardian quotes him: I am one of the last few remaining voices left from a generation of men and women who built a better society for our children and grandchildren out of the horrors of the second world war, as well as the hunger of the Great Depression. Sadly, that world my generation helped build on a foundation of decency and fair play is being swept away by neoliberalism and the greed of the 1%, which has brought discord around the globe. Today, the western world stands at its most dangerous juncture since the 1930s. Sm...

Are you writing for rights? I almost gave myself a pass this year. I'm living out of a hotel room and I don't have easy access to a printer, and... what the hell? I'm one of the most privileged people on the planet. Surely I won't skip Write For Rights because it's a bit inconvenient! On December 10, 1948, the newly-formed United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the first document of its kind in history. Every year, on and around December 10, people who have human rights use them to help others whose human rights have been violated or negated. Here are the 2018 Write For Rights cases. Notice anything different? Join me and thousands of others. Join the biggest human rights event on the planet. By giving 15 or 30 minutes of your time, you can join thousands of others who believe that all humans have rights, no matter who they are, where they live, and what they believe. The right to peaceful protest. The right to inform others. The right ...

As we all sit helplessly agog at the latest spectacle going on in the US, here are some organizations to which you can donate (or volunteer) to help. How To Help Migrant Parents & Children Who Are Separated At The Border It's the least we can do. And for most of us, the most we can do. Where have we seen this before?  Message to My History Teacher, Who[m] I Once Asked Why No One Stopped the Concentration Camps: NEVER MIND BBC: US Separates 2,000 Children in Six Weeks NY Times: Taking Migrant Children From Families is Illegal, U.N. tells U.S. New Yorker: Taking Children From Their Parents is a Form of State Terror ( Canadians know about this .) Disaster capitalism: Military contractors making tens of millions helping Trump tear families apart ICYMI:  How To Help Migrant Parents & Children Who Are Separated At The Border

Dear friends of wmtc: I have been nominated as the NDP candidate for Mississauga Centre, the riding where I live and work. You can follow my campaign here on the web , on Facebook , and on Twitter . I am very excited to work for the people of Mississauga Centre, to help bring change for the better. Under the leadership of Andrea Horwath, Ontario can recover from the devastating effects of past governments and begin to work for us , the working people of this great province. We need to break the pattern that has been holding us back: moving back and forth from Liberal government to Conservative, going from bad to worse and back again. We need a bold leap to something different: change for the better. Only the New Democrats offer that. I'm enormously proud to represent Ontario's NDP, and to be part of the solution. I hope I can count on your support. With love and solidarity for all, Laura Kaminker

In my continuing (and usually failing) goal of remembering to write about things here , instead of just posting to Facebook, I feel I should write something about the student organizing and activism around gun violence in the US. This movement is the greatest thing to happen in the US in as long as I can remember. It stands with the Fight for 15 and Black Lives Matter as the most important movements of our present time. It has all the hallmarks of a true grassroots revolution. - It is self-organized. - Its spokespeople emerged organically. - It built quickly, because it has tapped into longstanding anger, and it resonates both deeply and broadly. - It is building on a local level to effect broad social change. - It is being organized from the bottom up, as opposed to, for example, the organizing around the election of Barack Obama. - It is using a variety of tools, and it appears to be fluid and agile around using different approaches as needed: walk-outs, public speaking, mainstre...

I've wanted to write about these two books for a long time, but adequately summarizing them is a daunting task. I just want to say to every activist and organizer: READ THESE BOOKS . I don't want to represent the authors' ideas, I want you to read them yourself . No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age by Jane F. McAlevey and The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution by Micah White are both aimed at activists and organizers -- people who already believe in the need for social change and are trying to influence the world in a progressive direction. Both books identify pitfalls and shortcomings in the current ways we approach our activism, and they offer concrete ideas for change, along with theory and philosophy to guide our decisions. Both are beautifully written, powerful, and essential. No Shortcuts  focuses on the labour movement, but McAlevey's analysis could apply to any movement. The labour movement is an excellent lens through which to...

Trying to compose my annual Write For Rights post, I thought I would recycle a good one from 2014... only to learn I had already recycled it in 2015! And here it is again -- slightly edited, with new cases linked below. Tomorrow, December 10, is Human Rights Day . The date commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, the first document of its kind. Every year on December 10, Amnesty International holds a global letter-writing event: Write For Rights ( in Canada ). Thousands of people around the world write letters and sign petitions calling for action for victims of human rights abuses, and offering comfort and support to political prisoners. Here are 10 reasons you should participate in Write For Rights. 1. It's easy. Amnesty makes it really easy to participate. Read, type, send. 2. You can do do it from any device. No meetings to attend, no schedule to keep. Just more of something you do all the time anyway...

The deadline to join the NDP and vote for Niki Ashton is August 17 . Last night I saw something that shocked me, and today I did something I've never done before: I joined a political party. And I did it so I can cast my vote for Niki Ashton for leader of the federal NDP. * * * * I worked on Saturday, and was very busy, with zero time to check headlines or social media. After work, I was watching the Red Sox trounce the Yankees and idly tapping on my tablet, when I was stopped cold. Heather Heyer was killed when a Nazi rioter drove a car into the crowd. I am not easily shocked. Perhaps I think I am shock-proof. But the spectacle of an angry mob carrying torches and Nazi banners, openly attacking a group of peaceful protesters, hit me like a gut punch. I've been writing about the collapse of the US empire, the US becoming a third world country, the fascist shift, and so on, for a long time. It's not like the rise of the white supremacists came out of nowhere. And it's no...