COs in Canada
Here in Toronto there are several cases of U.S. soldiers pending before the refugee board applying for refugee status. A former Vietnam draft dodger now Canadian lawyer, Jeffrey House, is handling the cases. It has gotten a lot of press here. House was interviewed on the Canadian TV the other day and says he is getting a large volume of calls from American soldiers about fleeing to Canada to escape a war they don’t want to fight in. He is advising them to seek all remedies in the U.S. first because none of the refugee clams have been decided here yet.
During the Vietnam War the Canadian government had a policy of accepting people evading the draft and deserters granting them permanent resident status. Some 50,000 came to Toronto alone, and most of them stayed.
We are not sure what regime will be in power until after June 28, the date of our federal elections. If the incumbent liberal win with social democratic support (NDP) then it is likely they will support these people. If it is a right-wing government under the conservatives then the situation becomes more difficult as the conservatives are neo-fascists and love George Bush.
Christopher BlackToronto, Ontario
The author is a lawyer in Canada.
Appalled at free speech
I am appalled at your leftist/neo-communist website. All of you should reanalyze your hypocritical stance and come around to reality. It is easy to stand on your little red soapbox, espousing communistic nonsense, with the Communist Manifesto in one hand and a Big Mac in the other. Value your freedoms or risk losing them.
Peter DelgadoVia e-mail
Editor’s note: The image of one of us holding a Manifesto in one hand and a Big Mac in the other while standing on a little red soapbox is comical, but the anti-communism isn’t. Communists, leftists and progressives were jailed for their beliefs in the 1950s – one of the country’s worst anti-democratic times. Anti-communism is not about democracy, it’s about limiting democracy. We do value freedoms and the expansion of them. That’s why we publish what we do.
Three Bs
Greetings from Mexico. I am receiving the PWW within two weeks of publication. Your publication is very interesting therefore I don’t mind the delay. Just keep kicking the hell out of Bush’s butt to get him back to Texas brush country. Give him a triple dose of the Bs regularly. (Bush Butt Brush Country.)
George S. BencichMazatlan, Mexico
The myth of Reagan
Jarvis Tyner’s wonderful article demystifying Ronald Reagan deserves the widest circulation possible. (“The Real Ronald Reagan,” PWW 6/19-25) We should all remember that before he became a HUAC friendly witness in 1947, Reagan was a “volunteer” FBI informer against the left in Hollywood.
Rather than being a strong leader, Reagan was a mouthpiece for studio executives and GE in the 1950s, rightwing California millionaires who ran him for governor in 1966 (he initially told them that he didn’t know if he could run because he never played a governor in the movies), racists (he began his campaign for President in 1980 by advocating states rights in Philadelphia, Mississippi where three Civil Rights workers were murdered in 1964), union busters, and, of course, the military-industrial complex.
In this election, we can beat the “little Reagan,” George W. Bush, and reverse the policies that have been so destructive for people everywhere.
Norman MarkowitzNew Brunswick NJ
Capitalism and jobs
Pat Barile’s article is right on target. (“Capitalism and jobs – the fundamentals,” PWW 4/24-5/1). Since the early seventies I’ve read the “paper of record,” The New York Times, and always purchased the first edition of the new year because they printed a supplement that gave its opinion/prediction for the coming year concerning jobs; growth, stagnation and decline. For the many years I had followed these educated predictions, the Times strongly suggested that computerization of industries would create jobs. I had my doubts back then and for good reason (unionized typesetting jobs disappeared in a very short time period). The Times continued this line until the late eighties and then reversed course, basically saying “well maybe computers actually eliminate jobs”— Awe shucks, everyone makes mistakes!
The question one must ask is, did the “paper of record” really believe what they were saying, or was it business as usual – protect the sacred cow, profits, and to hell with truth?
Gabe FalsettaGlendale NY
USS Jimmy Carter
Peace activists from around Connecticut marched to the Main Gate of the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton June 5 to protest an event celebrating the U.S. Navy’s most advanced fast-attack submarine, the USS Jimmy Carter.
Six people at the peaceful protest were arrested after they crossed police lines to urge guests to boycott the ceremony.
Trident Resistance Network Coordinator Steven Kobasa described the Seawolf-class submarine as the “newest model for future military intervention by the U.S.: efficient, covert, and able to operate at a vast distance.” The $4.4 billion vessel will be equipped with an expansive arsenal of torpedoes and cruise missiles, he added.
Demonstrators carried large banners calling attention to U.S. war crimes in Iraq, handed out leaflets, and chanted, “Money for schools, jobs, and health-care – not war!”
Kobasa told reporters, “In these days of endless war I think it is absolutely crucial that people be here to say no.” Demonstrators criticized former President Jimmy Carter – who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 – for being both pleased and honored at having the ship christened with his name.
As Kobasa wrote in a letter to the editor of the New London Day, “What honor will there be when we count the dead of future wars waged with this terrible weapon in (Carter’s) name?”
Patricia GinoniBridgeport CT
My thoughts
I not only find this website informative but it is also helpful when I need ‘talking points’ for certain issues! Although I get the paper, it’s also great to have it on line.
K. Salazar-SmithVia e-mail
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