We need to leave the tarsands oil in the ground.

We need an increasing carbon tax.

We need to stop subsidizing carbon energy producers.

We need public money invested in post-carbon energy.

We need to do it now.

I say all this, as does this NASA physicist:

The science of the situation is clear — it’s time for the politics to follow…Every major national science academy in the world has reported that global warming is real, caused mostly by humans, and requires urgent action. The cost of acting goes far higher the longer we wait — we can’t wait any longer to avoid the worst and be judged immoral by coming generations.

via Game Over for the Climate – NYTimes.com.

Translation and contextual information by Konstantin Kilibarda

Montenegro has been ruled by the same political party, the Democratic Party of Socialist (DPS), for the past 23 years. Along with the government of Belarus, Montenegro has the dubious distinction of being the only country in Europe that hasn’t seen a change in government since 1989. In the past several months an unprecedented wave of protests has hit the country, with workers, students, NGOs and citizens mobilizing against the government. The growing movement has called for the government to resign by 15 May 2012 or the organizers plan to escalate their campaign of non-violent civil disobedience. The movement’s demands include a call for an end to criminal privatizations, free post-secondary education and a serious confrontation with organized crime and corruption in Montenegro.

Below are two translated interviews with Janko Vucinic, head of the Niksic Steelworkers Union and a key trade union official in the Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro (UFTUM) that originally appeared in the independent dailies Vijesti (The News) and Dan (The Day). The first interview deals with the lead-up to the last mass protest held last week (5 May 2012). The second interview deals with the position of Montenegrin workers in light of May Day. Images accompanying the text and the accompanying captions help provide further context to the protest movement.

Thousands attend 5 May 2012 rally in Podgorica, Montenegro protesting government austerity, criminal privatization deals, high level corruption and the erosion of worker, student and citizens' rights.

Balkan Voices: Anti-Austerity Protests in Montenegro Heat Up continued »

I know it’s such an Alan Moore thing to say, but people shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.

We should be proud of students in Quebec for rejecting Charest’s offer.

Here’s what I find interesting as a parent: We often strive to teach our children discernment. We try to instill in them the understanding that they don’t have to accept the first offer that someone makes them, that they should examine whether an offer meets their needs, whether the other party has another agenda, whether an offer would give them short-term gain to their long-term detriment, etc. It seems to be generally accepted that discernment is a fairly mature reasoning process, which might be why so much emphasis is placed teaching it.

So now, we have thousands upon thousands of students who are utilizing those discernment skills to understand and reject an offer that does not serve their needs. Not only are they utilizing their discernment, they’re doing all sorts of other wonderful things we generally try to teach out children.

* They’re doing the right thing, not the easy thing. They’re sacrificing their academic year to see that this conflict comes to a just conclusion.
* They’re advocating for those who can’t advocate for themselves. This isn’t just about tuition fees this year, or next year, or five years from now. It’s also about the precedent this sets for the way tuition fees are regarded in the future.
* They’ve organized themselves quite enviably. Every parent who has ever despaired of their child’s scattershot approach to organization should be able to appreciate this.

And those parents, those thousands upon thousands of parents who have clearly taught their children well, are probably telling those kids to get back to school and complaining to co-workers about what spoiled assholes those students are. The media, the government, the experts… it seems that everyone is decrying the student strike as immature, despite the fact that the striking students are clearly demonstrating mature reasoning faculties.

What’s the problem? Jealous? Give your kids a hug and give yourselves a pat on the back for doing a good job. Be proud of your kids. Be proud of yourselves. Jesus Christ.

Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom is bringing in new legislation to crack down on fare evaders, allowing collection agencies to go after people who don’t buy tickets. If Lekstrom really wants to deal with fare evasion, then he needs to realize why people don’t pay the transit fares.

If people can’t afford to buy a transit ticket, then how can you expect them to pay the $173 fines for not paying the fare? Now he wants to legislate collection agencies to further harass these people who can’t afford to buy a bus ticket. He further wants to prevent fare evaders from being able to renew their drivers licence or buy car insurance. But Lekstrom does not realize that if people can’t afford to buy a transit ticket, then how can the afford a car let alone buy car insurance.

Mayor Gregor Robertson who didn’t pay a $173 fine during his 2008 election campaign for accidentally riding two SkyTrain zones on a one-zone fare said he wanted to draw attention to what he called unreasonably high fines. He finally did pay the fine. BC NDP leader Adrian Dix also forgot to pay his fare and had to pay the fine. But people forgetting to pay the fare are not the problem. They can afford pay their fines. Now Lekstrom wants to go after those you can’t pay their fines.

The problem is that low income people, particularly those on social assistance cannot afford to pay the fare which is why the evade the fare. The fare really becomes a problem when those who can’t afford to pay the fare for three zones, so sometimes they only have a one or two zone fare to cross three zones, and then they get hit with a $173 fine. Low income people have to pay the same one, two and three zone fares as those who are working.

After years of hard work and campaigning, concession fares were offered to post-secondary students to pay only a one zone fare to cross all three zones if they had a valid student card. But they were not afforded the same concession fare as high school students and seniors. University and College students now get a U pass as part of their student fees which makes transit accessible and affordable to them. The rationale given for this is that students are not able to work full-time. People with disabilities can access an annual pass a low annual fee. So fare evasion is not a problem for them.

How can low income people, especially those on social assistance pay the same fare are those who are working? They should also have access to concession fares or they should be given a transit pass with their assistance or both depending on their situation. This would solve problem of fare evasion and all so-called cost for cracking down on fare evasion with extra security costs and installing turnstiles. This type of legislation that goes after the poor is extremely counter productive and does not solve the problem of fare evasion.