Category: Employment

Posted on

A World Parliament by Jo Leinen & Andreas Bummel

(A World Parliament by Jo Leinen & Andreas Bummel)

(1) https://www.democracywithoutborders.org/files/BookContents.pdf
(2) https://canucklaw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/democracy.without.borders.pdf
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Bummel
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Leinen

What is it with Germans wanting to take over the world?

THIS ARTICLE, and THIS ARTICLE may help shed some light on things.

CLICK HERE, for the German version of the book. Google translate or some similar service should be helpful to you non-speakers.

This is not my usual format, but this may be necessary for a glimpse into the mind of someone who can support a “world” parliament.

OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
Detailed Contents
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1

PART I The idea of a world parliament: its history and pioneers
6
1. From the Stoics to Kant: cosmopolitanism, natural law, and the idea of a contract
8 Cosmopolitanism in ancient Greece
8—Cosmopolitan roots in India and China
9— Vitoria’s ‘republic of the whole world’
10—Conceptions of peace under ‘the sovereign power of the state’
12—The idea of the social contract in Hobbes and Locke
13—The social contract and Wolff’s ‘Völkerstaat’ 16—Kant’s cosmopolitan project
17 2. The 18th century: enlightenment, revolutions, and parliamentarism …..
20 The American federal state and representative democracy
20—The historical roots of parliamentarism
22—Cosmopolitanism in the French Revolution
24—Cloots’ ‘republic of humanity’
25—The end of cosmopolitanism
26 3. From Vienna to The Hague: the dynamics of integration and the inter-parliamentary movement
27 Sartorius’ ‘peoples’ republic’
27—Pecqueur’s concept of worldwide integration
28— Pecqueur’s world federation and world parliament
29—Tennyson’s ‘Parliament of Man’
31—The long struggle to extend the right to vote
32—The birth of the inter-parliamentary movement
33—The establishment of the IPU
34—The Hague Peace Conferences as a catalyst
35—Internationalism in the USA
36—An initiative at the IPU
37— Arguments emerging out of the German peace movement
39 4. World War and the League of Nations
42 The programme of the ‘Round Table’ group
42—The theory of sociocultural evolution and a world federation
43—A world parliament on the Versailles agenda
44—The ‘German Plan’ for the constitution of the League
46—Disappointment over the League of Nations
46 5. The Second World War and the atomic bomb: World Federalism in the early days of the UN
50 Federalism under pressure from fascism
50—The growth of world federalism
51— Planning the post-war order
53—Fundamental criticism of the UN, and the shock of Detailed Contents ix the atom bomb
54—Prominent support for a federal world order
55—Reves’ critique of democracy, the nation state and sovereignty
56—Albert Einstein and Albert Camus as advocates
57—The position of the Catholic Church
58—The British initiative of Nov. 1945
59—The issue of a Charter review conference
60—The foundation of the Council of Europe
62—Sohn’s proposal for a parliamentary assembly at the UN
62—Models for a world constitution
63—The Clark and Sohn model
64—CURE’s deliberations and conclusions
65—Parliamentary cooperation for a world federation
66 6. Bloc confrontation and the rise of the NGOs
68 World federalism caught between the fronts in the Cold War
68—The federalist movement and the founding of NATO
68—The declining popularity of world federalism and a world parliament
69—The World Order Models Project
71—The growing importance of NGOs
71—The idea of a ‘second chamber’
73—The issue of weighted voting in the UN General Assembly
74—Bertrand’s report
75— Perestroika and Gorbachev’s initiative
76 7. The end of the Cold War: the democratization wave, and the revitalization of the debate
79 The democratization wave
79—The revitalization of the debate
80—A UN parliamentary assembly as a strategic concept
81—Support for a world parliament and a UNPA
82— The report by the Commission on Global Governance
85—The report by the World Commission on Culture and Development
87 8. Democracy in the era of globalization
88 Globalization and the nation state
88—The theory of ‘cosmopolitan democracy’
90— The Falk and Strauss essays
93—A community of the democracies?
94— Höffe’s federal world republic
95—The call for a WTO parliament and the role of the IPU
97—Other initiatives towards a world parliament and a UNPA
98 9. The ‘War on Terror’, the role of the IPU, and the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly
102 The ban on landmines, the International Criminal Court and the World Social Forum
102—New contributions on the idea of a global parliament
103—The Lucknow conferences
104—9/11 and global democracy
105—The report by the German Bundestag‘s Enquete Commission
106—The report by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization
107—The Ubuntu Forum campaign
108—The Cardoso panel report
108—Growing support for a UNPA
111—The international campaign for a UNPA
114—Calls for a UNPA since 2007
117—The third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament
120—The European Parliament Resolution of 2011
121—The de Zayas recommendations
123—Later developments
124—The report by the Albright-Gambari Commission
126—The election of Trump and ongoing efforts 127

x A WORLD PARLIAMENT PART II Governance and democracy in the 21st century
129
10. The Anthropocene, planetary boundaries, and the tragedy of the commons
132 The era of humankind
132—Earth system boundaries
133—The problem of voluntarism
135—The ‘tragedy of the commons’
137—The management of global common goods
139—The problem of the generations
140—Global majority decision-making
141— The tragedy of international law
143 11. Overshoot, the ‘Great Transformation’, and a global eco-social market economy
144 Overshoot and ecological footprint
144—The end of the Utopia of growth
145—The challenge of global eco-social development
146—‘Political barriers’ as the main obstacle to transformation
147—The process of state formation and the rise of the market economy
148—The ‘double movement’ between market fundamentalism and state interventionism
149—A global eco-social market economy
150 12. Turbo-capitalism, the financial crisis, and countering global deregulation
153 The relevance of the ‘double movement’ and the emancipation question
153—The financial crisis and the continuing systemic risk
154—State intervention to stabilize the financial system
156—The financial system as a ‘priority global public good’
157—The anarchic system of international law
158—Liberalism, Laissez-faire and the question of a world state
159—The global race to deregulate
160—The key role of tax havens and anonymous shell companies
161—The hidden trillions
164—Global state formation as the goal of the counter-movement
165 13. A world currency, global taxation, and fiscal federalism
167 A world currency and a world central bank
167—The impact of national monetary policy and currency wars
168—Recent proposals for a world reserve currency
169—The fiscal race to the bottom
170—Uniform taxation of multinational corporations
172— Rejection by the OECD
173—Global fiscal federalism and the restitution of fiscal sovereignty
174—Ideas for global taxes
175—The management, supervision and expenditure of global tax revenues
176 14. World domestic policy, trans-sovereign problems, and complex interdependence
179 ‘Trans-sovereign problems’
179—The concept of interdependence
180—Transgovernmental networks and the merging of domestic and foreign policy
181—The evolutionary phases of the international order
183—Sovereignty and the era of ‘implosion’
184 Detailed Contents xi 15. The fragility of world civilization, existential risks, and human evolution
187 The potential for worldwide collapse
187—The Genome as part of the heritage of humankind
188—Reprogenetics
189—Transhumanism and artificial intelligence
190— Autonomous weapons systems
191—Bioterrorism, nanobots and new pathogens
193— The need for regulation under global law
194 16. The threat of nuclear weapons, disarmament, and collective security …
196 Nulcear war as ‘the end of all things’
196—The danger of nuclear war
197—The risk of nuclear accidents
198—The unfulfilled commitment to general and complete disarmament
200—The architecture of nuclear disarmament
202—The link between nuclear and conventional disarmament
204—The McCloy-Zorin Accords
206—The unrealized peace concept of the UN Charter, and UN armed forces
207—The four pillars of a world peace order
209—The role of a World Parliament
210 17. Fighting terrorism, ‘blowback’, and data protection
212 The ‘war on terror’ as an end in itself
212—The covert warfare of the USA
212—The consequences of US foreign policy and the ‘war against terror’
213—Human rights violations and the USA’s drone warfare
215—The roots of transnational terrorism and the relevance of a World Parliament
216—The global surveillance system and universal disenfranchisement
219—Global data protection legislation
221 18. A world law enforcement system, criminal prosecution, and the post-American era
223 The need for world police law and a supranational police authority
223—The failure of classical sanctions
224—A supranational police to support the ICC
225—Extending the prosecuting powers of the ICC
227—Strengthening international criminal prosecution and a World Parliament
229—Interpol and accountability
231—A World Parliament as an element of world police law
232—The role and significance of the USA
235 19. Global food security and the political economy of hunger
238 The extent of worldwide hunger and the right to adequate nutrition
238—Population growth and food production
240—The fragility of global food supply
242—Dependence on oil and phosphates
244—Hunger as a problem of political economy
244— The relevance of democracy and the international
245—Agricultural subsidies, the WTO and food security
247—Commodity markets and financial speculation
248— Food security as a global public good and the failure of the G20
249—The FAO, a World Food Board and global food reserves
250—Free trade, food security and a world peace order
252—Democratising global food policy and a World Parliament 253

xii A WORLD PARLIAMENT 20. Global water policy ………………………………………………………
256 The state of drinking water supply
256—Water security as a global concern
257—The democratic deficit in water governance and a World Parliament
259 21. The elimination of poverty, and basic social security for all
262 Poverty as a key issue
262—Extreme poverty and the right to an adequate standard of living
262—The need for a new approach to international development
265— Economic growth is not enough
266—Social security as the foundation of a planetary social contract
267—A global basic income
268—Universal access to the global commons
270—The dream of a life free from economic compulsion
270 22. Global class formation, the ‘super class’, and global inequality …………
272 The emergence of global class conflicts and the role of the middle class
272—The global precariat
274—The concept of the Multitude
275—The super rich and global power structures
277—The transnational capitalist class
279—A transnational state apparatus 280—The interconnections between transnational corporations
281—The need for a global antitrust authority
282—Global inequality and instability
284— Inequality as the cause of the financial crisis
285—The growth of capital investments and a global tax on capital
286—The need for global public policy instruments and a World Parliament
287—A new global class compromise
289 23. The debate on world government, the age of entropy, and federalism .
290 The global elite and the question of a world government
290—The spectre of a global Leviathan
292—Hierarchical order and complexity
294—Different types of hierarchies
294—The principle of subsidiarity
295—The fragmentation of global governance and international law
296—Coherent world law and a World Parliament
298— The bewildering world order and the ‘age of entropy’
298—The entropic decline of world civilization?
300—World federalism as a means of reducing complexity
301—A world state as a taboo topic
302—The teetering paradigm of intergovernmentalism
303— The standard reactionary arguments
305 24. The third democratic transformation and the global democratic deficit
307 The waves of democratization
307—Economic development and democracy
309—The post-industrial transformation in values
310—Democracy as a universal value
312— The right to democracy
313—The undermining of democracy by intergovernmentalism
315—The influence of transnational corporations
317—The example of the Codex Commission
317—Fragmentation as a problem of democracy
319—The dilemma of scale
320—The concept of a chain of legitimation
320—Output legitimation
321— Accountability to the world’s citizens
323—Equality and representation in international law and world law
324—The third democratic transformation
326— International parliamentary institutions
328 Detailed Contents xiii 25. The development of a planetary consciousness, and a new global enlightenment
330 War and socio-political evolution
331—The decline of violence
333—The development of reason, empathy, and morality
333—The origin of morality in group selection
336— In-group morality and humanity’s crisis of adolescence
337—Sociogenesis and psychogenesis
340—The widening circle of empathy
340—The transition to an integral consciousness
343—Group narcissm and the Promethean gap
345—The problem of cultural lag
347—Global identity and the Other
349—The ‘Overview Effect’ and a planetary worldview
351—Identity, demos, and state formation
353—The progressive attitude of the world population
357—Global history and world citizenship education
359—‘Big History’ as a modern creation story
360—The continuation of the project of modernity
362—The new global Enlightenment 365

PART III Shaping the future: the design and realization of world democracy ….
367 26. Building a world parliament .
369 The example of the European Parliament
369—The proposal for a UNPA
370—The extension of powers and responsibilities
371—Growing democratic challenges
374— The allocation of seats
376 27. Creating world law
379 International law and world law compared
379—A bicameral world legislature
381— A world constitutional court
382 28. The necessary conditions for the transformation
384 The structural conditions for institutional change
384—A cosmopolitan move- ment
386—The role of NGOs
388—A UNPA as a catalyst for change
389—Four factors
391—The stealthy revolution
391—The revolution from below
392—The revolution from above
393—The trigger
394—Anticipating and averting the horror
395— Climate-induced events
396—A democratic China
397—In the beginning 399
Index …………………………………………………………………………. 401

World currency? World bank? World parliament? World courts?
Global identity? New global enlightenment? Global antitrust authority? Global public policy instruments?
Social security as a right?
Supra-national police force?

298— The bewildering world order and the ‘age of entropy’
298—The entropic decline of world civilization?

Entropy? Isn’t that what Trudeau referred diversity as?

This is messed up

Posted on

Predatory Publications by TRU Professor Pyne (Part 2: Meeting The Man)

(Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC)

See the previous article on the infamous paper by Thompson Rivers University Economic Professor, Derek Pyne.

For a simplified version of the story, Professor Pyne published a paper in April 2017 titled “Predatory publications”. It was a look into the academic publishing, and how fake journals were popping up. Given university professors’ duty to “publish or perish”, these seemed to be a way out.

This is a topic that has been reluctantly addressed by universities before. However, this paper took more of an economic view of the subject — rewards and benefits from publishing in such journals.

The paper has not been well received by Thompson Rivers University, especially since it seemed to implicate members of the faculty. Relations between Professor Pyne and the school have gone downhill.

In September 2018, almost a year and a half later, Professor Pyne was suspended from TRU. He is now back at work. He claims that the paper was one reason, but not the only, for the suspension.

Currently, a complaint has been filed under Section 13 of the Labour Relations Code, claiming the Union violated Section 12. Here is the actual text from the Labour Relations Code (of BC)

Duty of fair representation
12 (1)
A trade union or council of trade unions must not act in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith
(a) in representing any of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit, or
(b) in the referral of persons to employment whether or not the employees or persons are members of the trade union or a constituent union of the council of trade unions.
.
(2) It is not a violation of subsection (1) for a trade union to enter into an agreement under which
(a) an employer is permitted to hire by name certain trade union members,
(b) a hiring preference is provided to trade union members resident in a particular geographic area, or
(c) an employer is permitted to hire by name persons to be engaged to perform supervisory duties.
.
(3) An employers’ organization must not act in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith in representing any of the employers in the group appropriate for collective bargaining.
.
Procedure for fair representation complaint
13 (1) If a written complaint is made to the board that a trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization has contravened section 12, the following procedure must be followed:
(a) a panel of the board must determine whether or not it considers that the complaint discloses a case that the contravention has apparently occurred;
(b) if the panel considers that the complaint discloses sufficient evidence that the contravention has apparently occurred, it must
(i) serve a notice of the complaint on the trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization against which the complaint is made and invite a reply to the complaint from the trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization, and
(ii) dismiss the complaint or refer it to the board for a hearing.
(2) If the board is satisfied that the trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization contravened section 12, the board may make an order or direction referred to in section 14 (4) (a), (b) or (d).

Canuck Law meeting Professor Pyne

The actual interview occurred on Thursday, January 24 at the University in Kamloops, BC. Note: Questions were prepared, but the replies shown are summaries of what was said.

1/ What did you think would happen publishing this?
-It was a new angle on the publishing industry
-This hadn’t been done before
-Expected a higher amount of support for academic freedom and inquiry

2/ Any support from colleagues?
-Some privately do offer support
-No one wants to be public about it
-This is considered an attack on academic freedom

3/ What actually triggered the suspension?
-Collective agreement allows for feedback for candidates
-I exercised that right. University called it defamatory and accusatory

4/ Why the 16 month delay in the suspension? (April 2017-Sept 2018)
-It took time for the backlash to happen
-Reporting by the New York Times really hurt
-American media interviews were given
-Comments made in online forums
-Research comments

5/ Why isn’t the TRU faculty union helping?
-164 page complaint was filed
-Academic unions don’t work the same way private sector unions do
-Lack of understanding by the union in matters like this

6/ What do you see Labour Relations doing?
-Little. They have a very low success rate
-Since 2016 (records shown), 0 or 1 cases successful each year
-Most “successes” come from informal negotiation between parties

7/ What would you like Labour Relations to do?
-Order the union to file a grievance

8/ How can universities screen for “predatory journals”? What are the warning signs?
-Mailbox addresses (suites) given in address
-Journal no one has heard of before
-Very quick turnaround times
-Questionable, if any, peer review
-Questionable “Impact Factors Analysis”
-Real journal will provide abstract, fake will make you buy entire article, paywall
-There are 10,800 right now identified, another 955 suspected (all fields)

9/ Has this led to policy changes at TRU?
-Might have tipped people off as to what is happening?

10/ Was it difficult to get data for research?
-Time consuming
-Manually searching profiles
-Research Ethics not needed (since no face-to-face interviews)
-Google Scholar quick source (academic publications)
-Checking academic profiles also an option

11/ Does this hurt academia?
-It can lower the trust people have in experts and authority figures

12/ Broadly speaking, how does peer review work?
-You need an idea of which journals to submit to
-You submit your research
-You may have to redo large sections of your paper
-Editor of publication often orders revise & resubmit
-Editor will find referees with similar publications to review yours
-Referees are usually volunteers, it’s more of an honour
-It can easily take a year or two to get published

Posted on

Predatory Publications by TRU Professor Pyne (Part 1: The Paper)

(Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC)

CLICK HERE, for the Integrity in Research and Scholarship Policy

CLICK HERE, for the whistle-blower protection policy

CLICK HERE, for research ethics

An economics professor, Derek Pyne, at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC, was suspended over “defamatory language and accusations”, over a paper he published regarding “predatory publishing”.

Pyne is now back at work at TRU, though the controversy is far from over.

For some reason, suggesting that university faculty are engaged in pay-to-publish scheme tends to burn bridges and create tension.

Here is a brief review of the research paper.

Note: This review is not a factual determination one way or another of the validity of the findings, but just an overall critique of the paper.

Quotes From The Paper

“derek pyne
.
This study is the first to compare the rewards of publishing in predatory journals with the rewards of publishing in traditional journals. It finds that the majority of faculty with research responsibilities at a small Canadian business school have publications in predatory journals. In terms of financial compensation, these publications produce greater rewards than many non-predatory journal publications. Publications in predatory journals are also positively correlated with receiving internal research awards. By improving the understanding of the incentives to publish in predatory journals, this research aims to contribute to a better-informed debate on policies dealing with predatory journals.”

Okay, this is just the opening summary, but the point is clear: so-called “predatory journals” seem to be more lucrative in terms of receiving publications, and in professional gains.

“When academics publish in these journals, their university affiliations contribute to the credibility of the journals. Because decision makers and the public may lack the expertise to distinguish between nonsense and legitimate research, they may be led to suspect expert opinion in general. In addition, when academics are rewarded for publishing in predatory journals, the research incentives of their universities are distorted.”

This is actually a bad combination: researchers get rewards distorted by publishing in predatory journals, and the decisions are being made by people who lack the expertise.

The university does not have merit pay for research success, but publications affect compensation in several ways:
.
1. through initial academic rank and placement of individuals on the salary grid;
2. through the speed at which individuals are promoted and thus pass the salary ceiling for their existing rank; and
3. by the opportunity cost of time spent on research in lieu of earning opportunities.
.
The first two considerations imply a positive relationship between publication success and compensation, while the third implies a negative relationship.

Interesting observations. #1 and #2 refer to “indirect” rewards which are gained from publishing, while #3 references time researching and not “working”.

“literature review Several articles have examined the relationship between journal publications and faculty compensation. For example, Sen, Ariizumi, and DeSousa studied the relationship between the research productivity of economics faculty in Ontario universities and their salaries. Contrary to the present study, they found that publications in top journals were positively correlated with salary increments but that publications in lower-ranked journals were not related to salaries. “

A fairly obvious conclusion, and one that is backed up with more research. Publishing in top journals gets more money, while publishing in subpar journals has little effect.

“[Beale’s] six pages of criteria for evaluating journals largely relate to dishonest practices. Examples include not conducting ‘a bona fide peer review,’ copying or mimicking journal titles from other publishers, identifying the publisher’s owner as the editor of each and every journal published by the organization, not identifying a specific person as the editor, two or more of the publisher’s journals having duplicate editorial boards, and the publisher falsely claiming to have an ISI impact factor or purchasing ‘fake impact factors’ services. Publishers who believe they have been wrongly included can apply to a four-person appeal panel for removal.”

Interesting signs to look for:
-No proper peer review
-copying or imitating titles
-identifying owner of publication as each journal’s editor
-not having a specific editor
-2+ journals with duplicate editorial boards
-false claims of impact factor services.

“Bohannon conducted a ‘sting operation’ by submitting a scientifically flawed paper to 304 open access journals, some on Beall’s list. Eighty two per cent of the journals on Beall’s list accepted the paper; thus he concluded that ‘Beall is good at spotting publishers with poor quality control.
.
Ray argues that predatory journals may be able to screen for hoax articles. Thus, her approach was to submit essays written by eighth- and tenth-grade secondary school students to ten open access journals. Of the nine who responded with an editorial decision, six accepted the paper without revisions, and only one rejected the paper. The paper was rejected for being too short, but the journal suggested to the author that it be expanded and resubmitted. “

Nice ways to screen for validity of academic journalism: do a little investigative journalism and see if they will literally publish anything. Several pages of data and charts are then presented in the paper.

“discussion and conclusions Predatory journals have become an increasing problem when it comes to assessing and rewarding researchers for the merit of their publishing records. In addition, the presence of predatory journals makes it difficult for non-experts to judge the quality and validity of published research. This paper finds that, at least at one university, there are few incentives not to publish in predatory journals. In addition, when the opportunity cost of forgone income from extra teaching is significant, publishing in ranked journals is costly.

A number of questions for future research on predatory publication are raised. A key question is the degree to which these findings are generalizable to business schools, and other faculties, at other universities. The similar proportions of questionable publications reported by Ray suggest that the results may be generalizable to other business schools, but additional research is needed. This type of research involves time consuming data collection, and answering these questions would require significant research support. However, the benefits of better understanding the market for predatory publications would be substantial. For example, such data could be used to study whether faculty research output is improved when administrators also have a research background.”

To summarise here: the author actually makes a pretty compelling case (backed up by data), that publishing in so called “predatory journals” is economically a better choice. This would apply both in terms of time (far fewer rejections), and financially (such as costs involved in ranked journals).

This topic will be continued later.

Posted on

CBC Propaganda #5: Resistance (And Borders) Are Futile

(CBC produces another “pro-illegal immigration” article)

Okay, securing borders is a tough job, so why even bother?

For my grandparents, divorce was unthinkable. My parents’ generation did that. For my parents’ generation, gay marriage was unthinkable. My generation did that. For my generation, more open borders is probably unthinkable. The next generation will do that.

An actual quote from the article.

CBC, a.k.a The “Communist Broadbasting Corporation”, or the “Caliphate Broadcasting Corporation”, is a government funded “news” organization. It receives about $1.5 billion annually to spew out anti-Canadian stories. Taxpayers don’t get a say in the matter.

CLICK HERE, to reach the CBC Propaganda Masterlist. It is far from complete, but being added to regularly.
Okay, where to start with this gem? CLICK HERE, for the article itself.

“In 2015, there were 244 million international migrants — nearly seven times the population of Canada.
The total includes the more than 65 million people forcibly displaced from their homes by conflict and persecution. It is the highest number on record, surpassing even the years following WWII.
.
It also includes people whose homelands have cracked apart in earthquakes, withered in droughts or suffered through famines.
.
Some migrants are pushed from their homes by poverty and drawn to countries in the global north by the promise of a better life. Others cross borders to join their families or pursue an education.”

An interesting start. And some things we can take from it.

First, it says 244 million (yes, million) international migrants. That is absurd. But don’t worry, some globalist bodies (EU, UN) will force countries to take them in.

Second, there are 244 million “migrants”, yet only 65 million of them are “refugees”. Assuming, for the sake of argument that the numbers are correct, that would be 65 million refugees, and 179 million migrants. As percentages, those are 27% refugees, and the other 73% are migrants

Third, it lists natural disasters as reason to leave, but it seems unclear if these are “refugees” or migrants”. The article doesn’t specify.

Fourth, yes, many are drawn by: 1/ poverty; 2/ search of a better life; 3/ join families; or 4/ pursue an education. Those are called economic migrants, and moving to another country for those reasons is not considered a human right.

The numbers are going to keep growing. Researchers predict there could be 1 billion climate refugees by the middle of this century, and 2 billion by its end.

The CBC quotes this article, from Cornell University. Although the article provides no actual evidence for its claims, it does make many dire predictions

“Earth’s escalating population is expected to top 9 billion people by 2050 and climb to 11 billion people by 2100, according to a United Nations report. Feeding that population will require more arable land even as swelling oceans consume fertile coastal zones and river deltas, driving people to seek new places to dwell.”

Yes, predictions about rising sea levels submerging the land have been floated for decades. No evidence of it happening though.

For the last six years, Canadian lawyer François Crépeau has served as the United Nations’ leading investigator and expert on the human rights of migrants. His post put him on the frontlines of an international crisis, during some of the most challenging years in recent memory.

The CBC links this UN page. It will be done in another article. Bottom line, the UN views migration (even illegal immigration) as a human right.

“François Crépeau: I should start by saying that migration is part of humankind, of who we are. We were born as a species 250,000 years ago in Africa. We came out of Africa around 70,000 years ago, arrived in Australia 60,000 years ago when there was a land bridge, entered Europe 40,000 years ago when the ice retreated, and entered North America between 20 and 25,000 years ago.

Since then, we’ve moved around all the time. We are a migrating animal species. The numbers are high today, but they represent on average 3 per cent of the world population. We’re told by anthropologists and sociologists that this was the proportion 50 years ago, and this was the proportion 100 years ago. [Migration] is the constant of who we are.

The problem we’re facing today, what we call a crisis, is because we invented — about 400 to 500 years ago — borders. We implemented borders in the second half of the 19th century when we invented the passport. So for the past 200 years, we’ve had this idea that we should stop people at borders, but 200 years is very little as compared to 250,000 years.”

Nice history lesson, but where we were 250,000 years ago, or 20,000 years ago is irrelevant. He makes an argument since that because humans have moved around for centuries, that actual borders and border enforcement are a strange an abhorrent concept.

He either doesn’t get (or pretends not to get) that borders and nations are what allows societies to function. People united by heritage, language, culture, traditions, and yes, ethnicity have formed the basis of societies for a very, VERY long time. Though the concept of a nation-state is newer, the principles behind it are not.

“Michael Enright: This is the whole idea of the sovereign state — that sovereignty allows nation states to control their borders and keep people out.

It’s been said to be one of the attributes of state sovereignty, but it’s never happened. All borders are porous and democratic borders are more porous than others. Even the Soviet Union had porous borders. At that time, the people we called the smugglers and we present as terrible criminals today were actually helping people getting out of USSR, and we called them heroes.”

Yes, borders are porous, but they “shouldn’t” be. They exist for a purpose: to be a barrier and an outside limit for that nation.

“I think states have to accept that borders are not meant to stop everyone they would like to stop. Borders may mean knowing who enters and stays in the country. In order to get that knowledge, you have to have people come to border guards so that they can be identified, numbered, etc. In order to do that you have to provide them with papers. If you try to stop everyone you don’t like, the only thing you do is you create underground markets for smugglers.

A question of terminology here: what’s the difference between a refugee and migrant?
.
‘Refugee’ is defined in the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. It’s someone who is outside his or her country of origin and fears persecution for five reasons: race, religion, nationality, belonging to a particular social group, and political opinions.

Refugees are a kind of migrant. But there are many other people who do not fear persecution or who fear many other things: people who are fleeing drought, tsunamis, poverty. These are good reasons to try to move somewhere else. This is a social stress, and migration has always been a human answer to social stress. It’s going to continue, and we have to adapt to that rather than try to refuse it.”

(1) Okay, this person flat out says that borders are not meant to stop everyone. Yeah, that “is” what they are for.

(2) If you stop everyone you don’t like, you create underground markets for smugglers? Sure, if someone isn’t allowed it, for whatever reason, just pay someone to smuggle them in.

(3) “Providing papers” is standard practice when you show up at a foreign border. Border guards need to know who people are, and whether they are admissible or not.

(4) Yes, refugees are something different than migrant, but throughout this article, you blur the lines. You don’t seem to care if they are fleeing some legitimate horror, or are just looking for a better life.

(5) “fleeing drought, tsunamis, poverty”? Poverty isn’t a natural disaster, and none of these are legitimate reasons to be considered a refugee. It is just blurring the lines here.

“In the last six years, in your position with the UN, you’ve travelled around the world. You’ve visited detention centres, camps, places where people try to cross borders. What stands out in your mind now from those visits?

I was expecting this to be very grim. And what stood out from day one, when visiting detention centres or camps, was the sheer determination, the grit, the courage of those people — the fact that even if they were detained, in their mind they were already somewhere else. They were already in the next step of their journey. They might be sent back home, but they would come back.

They are going to come whether we like it or not, because this is what humankind has always done. They are going to try to find a place where they can thrive, flourish, feed their kids and educate their kids. They don’t do it, often, because they like it. They do it because that’s where the future lies for themselves and their families.”

This is creepy. There is almost an awe that these migrants — attempting to enter illegally — will just keep trying again and again. And in the next paragraph, reiterating that it is people looking for a better life. Economic migrants, not refugees.

“Some countries have responded to this influx of refugees and migrants into Europe by trying to close their borders. You say there’s no such thing as a fully sealed border.

I mean, you can seal a border that deflects migration to other weak points along the border, but borders are very long. I suppose you could put a soldier every 10 meters with orders to shoot on sight. Democracies don’t do that, really.

If you try to stop [migration], the only thing you’re creating is an underground market for criminals. That’s what’s happened with the prohibition era between Canada and the U.S. We made the fortune of several Montreal families. That’s what’s happening with 40 years of the war on drugs. The cartels are not cowed, and are deadlier than ever.”

The pattern throughout the article is that people have the right to migrate — wherever, whenever, however — they want. There is no sympathy shown for the host nations who are forced to provide costs for security. No sympathy for the housing, education, health care, etc… that these open border policies force on host nations.

It is undemocratic to defend your border? Does a nation just “give up” enforcement if the illegal immigrants are determined to cross?

This is the same kind of nonsensical arguments that “safe injection sites” are founded on: provide for these people, otherwise, they will hurt themselves. Selfish.

This is not really surprising to read though. The UN has made it clear repeatedly that it DOES NOT respect national borders.

“But do nations have a moral responsibility to take in migrants?
.
I don’t think it’s a question of moral responsibility. It’s a question of facing the facts. Migrants are going to come.

Migrations occur because of push and pull factors. We very often discuss the push factors — environmental catastrophes, violence, war, economic deprivation. We never talk about the pull factors.

The main pull factor for countries in the global north is that we have huge labour markets that need those migrants. The undocumented migrants we have in Canada and Europe and the U.S., they all work. They all perform economic functions and there are millions of employers ready to employ them.”

A bit of honesty here. He says screw morality.

But that is where the honesty ends. True, there are many who do work, but there are many more (especially from the Middle East and Africa), who do not work, and are an economic burden.

Furthermore, there is no mention of the damage done to host nations, even by those working. A huge influx of workers leads to more competition for jobs, drives down wages, and often sees citizens being replaced in favour of cheap foreign labour.

“What about the suggestion that migrants coming into my country will somehow change or subvert the common culture?

That’s often heard. It’s not supported by social science. The biggest changes in our culture are linked to generational changes.. For my grandparents, divorce was unthinkable. My parents’ generation did that. For my parents’ generation, gay marriage was unthinkable. My generation did that. For my generation, more open borders is probably unthinkable. The next generation will do that.

Changes in values are much more important because of the passage of time — because we react to what our parents did — than by people coming in. We haven’t seen a change in democratic values because we had millions of people coming from undemocratic countries.”

Finally a good question, but the answers are chilling

(1) The speaker is either not aware, or deliberately lying, about mass migration changing the culture. Particularly with Islamic immigration, there is nothing but culture clash and violence.

(2) The speaker says he believes open borders will become a reality.

“Isn’t there an argument to be put forward that countries like France or Sweden have found it very difficult to integrate migrants into the common culture?

No one ever said that welcoming migrants was easy. It’s always been difficult. There are ways of making it easier — putting people in language courses very early on, training, trying to have mechanisms so that the skills and experience they have can be translated into Canadian experience and skills.

Countries like France have had migrants for generations. But in the post-war period they have turned a complete blind eye to integration, because all those migrant workers of the 50s, 60s and 70s were supposed to go back home, and France never realised that they would stay. So integration was not part of the process.

You have a marginalized community if you don’t have proper integration policies. Now, that is true for migrants. But that is true for Roma people in in Europe. That is true for Aboriginal people in Canada. That is true for poor people in most of our cities. It’s true for older people. Integration is not simply an immigration problem; it’s a social problem that we collectively have for several communities who are excluded from the mainstream.”

Notice that again there is no concern for the host countries now forced to deal with many thousands of “migrants”.

But an interesting point, you need proper integration. But if people are just going to migrate anyway, then all of this is cast aside. Again, it is selfish to just force these burdens on host countries.

And this is to say nothing of Islam, which rejects assimilation, and attempts to conquer and dominate anyway, via mass migration. Let’s be clear, Islam is a political ideology, not a religion.

“What about the argument of politicians and people who say, well, embedded in the intake of migrants, there may be terrorists who pose a threat to my individual and national security?

That’s true. There are bad apples in every community. There are bad apples in our communities who have been here for several centuries, and there are bad people in Aboriginal communities, and there are bad people in immigrant communities. That exists. It’s true. So, we could exclude everyone, try to prevent everyone from coming.

The issue is, if you talk to anti-terrorism people, they are not interested in migration policies, and they will tell you as much. Migration policy, stopping everyone at the border, it doesn’t give [them] any information on the precise person who poses a danger. To identify a person who poses danger, this is intelligence, and intelligence means groundwork with communities. Most terrorist attacks in the global north have been done by people who were either born or integrated in those countries.”

Going out of the way to miss the point. Should we not bother with borders and screening at all then, since bad apples have gotten through? Moreover, if we can determine who is not a good fit, then it makes it more likely to prevent their radicalised children from becoming a threat to the public.

“How young would they be, the ones that are alone?
.
Most of them are between 13 and 18. You have a very small minority who are younger, sometimes 9, 10, 11. They are often not those who are found on boats, because they simply don’t have the social capital to be able to negotiate that. But they will be found, for example, trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico.

The older ones, 13 to 18 — this is an age where you become an adult in many societies. So we consider them as children, and they are in terms of their development, but certainly they don’t take the responsibilities of children. They take the responsibilities of adults. In countries like Afghanistan, where often the men have disappeared due to conflict, the oldest boy at 14 or 15 becomes the man of the family and does what it takes.”

Actually, there have been many cases of adult men claiming to be boys for 2 reasons: 1/ harder to deport; and 2/ more generous welfare. It has gotten so bad in Europe they started doing bone scans to better estimate ages.

“How much of the resistance to migration, to migrants, to refugees, is simple old-fashioned bigotry or racism? When you hear David Cameron, the former British prime minister, talking about migrants as a “swarm” and then his foreign secretary calls them “marauding” and, of course, we know what the current president of the United States thinks — how much of that is just pure racism?

I think racism and bigotry is a great percentage of the populist nationalist discourse on migration, and we have to understand why it’s possible.

We’ve had bigotry, racism and discrimination against all marginalized groups in society forever. The Jews, the Roma, women, Aboriginals. I mean, you name them. Slowly these people started fighting back, claiming their rights as equal citizens. Industrial workers fought back, and women fought back, and Indigenous people fought back. Gays and lesbians fought back.

It’s only when they started coming out and saying publicly, “we’re not going to take it anymore,” that politicians started changing their tune and stopping doing sexist jokes — well, they still do sexist jokes, but in much less quantity than when I was young.

This is not going to happen anytime soon for migrants. They don’t vote. They have no influence on politicians whatsoever, and they don’t participate in the public debates. Normally you would make policies with the people concerned. Try to imagine policies about women made by committees of men, as it was done 100 years ago. Today it would sound ludicrous. Well, migration policies are made by people who are not migrants and have no idea what migration means in most countries.”

(a) Folks, if you oppose mass illegal migration, chances are it is because you are a racist and a bigot.

(b) Illegal immigrants are just another discriminated against group? Really?

(c) Illegal immigrants don’t vote in Canada — yet. But there are moves being made to change that.

(d) They don’t influence or participate in debate? Have you turned on a TV lately?

Final Thoughts
This review doesn’t cover every passage. However, it is disturbing: CBC, our state funded broadcaster airing a speaker who blatantly promotes open borders.

He is not pushed or challenged on his beliefs. Nor are the demands and consequences imposed on the Canadian (or other host nation) explored. Remember, The public will be the ones footing the bill for this mass migration.

There seems to be little concern for: 1/ medical screening; 2/ police screening; 3/ state security screening; 4/ language abilities; 5/ cultural compatibility; or general employment prospects. The entire article is written though the lens of those wishing — no demanding — access to whatever country they wish. Remember this quote:

For my grandparents, divorce was unthinkable. My parents’ generation did that. For my parents’ generation, gay marriage was unthinkable. My generation did that. For my generation, more open borders is probably unthinkable. The next generation will do that.

National sovereignty be damned.

Posted on

CBC Propaganda #4: More On The “Wage Gap”

(CBC Promoting The Long Debunked “Wage Gap”)

CBC, a.k.a The “Communist Broadbasting Corporation”, or the “Caliphate Broadcasting Corporation”, is a government funded “news” organization. It receives about $1.5 billion annually to spew out anti-Canadian stories. Taxpayers don’t get a say in the matter.

CLICK HERE, to reach the CBC Propaganda Masterlist. It is far from complete, but being added to regularly.

CBC released this article, today, but included in the references is this article. This review includes them both.

“A new report on the highest-paid CEOs adds evidence to the argument that women face a “double-pane glass ceiling” at the top of Canada’s corporate ladder — first in getting to the executive suite and, once there, earning as much as their male counterparts.
.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) calculates that of the more than 1,200 named executive officers (NEOs) at 249 publicly traded companies in Canada, women earn about 68 cents for every dollar made by their male counterparts.
.
The study says the gap closes to 86 cents when looking at the wages of women and men in senior manager roles, almost in line with the country’s overall pay gap of 87 cents based on Statistics Canada calculations.”

The article will provide no evidence for this claim of a “double-pane glass ceiling” at all. Some actual proof of this claim would be nice.

Interestingly, this article links an older CBC article, see below, which makes the claim that the earnings gap between men and women is explained largely by different personal choices, such as 1/ family life; 2/ employment path; and 3/ education choices.

“The author of the report says the findings, while focused on the executive level where pay is already high, point to a larger equity issue.
.
CEOs make 197 times pay of average worker
.
“This is certainly about executives — that’s what we’re looking at — but I think it’s reflective of what’s happening throughout corporate Canada and the difficulties that women face in getting a fair shake even if they do have the qualifications,” said David Macdonald, the centre’s senior economist.
.
The findings are attached to the left-leaning centre’s annual report on the salaries of Canada’s highest-paid CEOs, who are estimated to earn what an average worker makes in a year by the time lunch rolls around Wednesday.
A review of corporate filings of publicly traded companies shows the top CEOs earned an average of $10 million in 2017, the most recent year available, or about 197 times more than the average worker.”

The report is focused on executive level, where pay is already high, which points to a larger equity issue?!

Do they mean “equality”, which is equal opportunity?

No, they mean “equity”, which is equal outcome

No evidence is provided that women don’t “receive a fair shake” in the corporate world. Again, if you are going to make such claims, back them up.

Yes, CEOs typically make far, far more than the average worker. But that is not proof of discrimination. With this equity push, is this a roundabout argument in favour of communism?

“”But this supposedly more competitive job market is not yielding markedly higher average wages, and ordinary workers aren’t gaining on CEOs,” the report says.
.
An earlier analysis by The Canadian Press that’s cited in the centre’s report found a similar gender gap among the country’s top 60 publicly traded companies. The review of records for 312 NEOs showed only 25 women and they earned an average of 64 cents for every dollar made by male counterparts.”

Once more, merely stating that there are differences is not proof of any discrimination. This article doesn’t seem to account for different industries, length of service, or profitability.

Interviews with about a dozen executives revealed a range of reasons.

Okay, before going any further, it needs to be pointed out: 12 is a low number.

“Old boys’ club hiring
.
They told The Canadian Press about how companies rely on the “old boys’ club” for executive searches. They also spoke about how outdated — and unchallenged — corporate culture in some companies leave women out of top jobs or fail to provide workplace support. The executives also mentioned a lack of confidence and risk-taking among women, an issue highlighted in academic research on executive pay.
.
Macdonald’s report zeros in on three issues:
.
[1] Few women are CEOs — about four per cent of Canadian CEOs and 10 per cent of top executives are women — where pay is the highest.
.
[2] “Performance pay” given to top executives — stock, stock options or cash rewards based on how a company performs — is predominantly higher for men than women. Eliminating bonus pay from the equation shrinks the gap to 82 cents, or almost the gap in the wider workforce.
.
[3] Companies with more women in executive ranks tend to be smaller organizations, and therefore pay less than their larger counterparts, Macdonald said.”

These sections actually largely refute the claims given above.

No workplace support? That is unfortunate, but if you are a senior officer or CEO of a company, then that company effectively is your life. Doubtful men get much support either.

The first reason given — few women are CEOs or executives — is not proof of any bias. This article does not detail any difference in education, work experience, or family or personal circumstances that might genuinely explain why women are not getting involved in high level business.

The second reason given — performance pay — is not discrimination. If a company does better, then it’s top staff will likely get bigger bonuses. Eliminating the bonus pay may shrink the “wage gap”, but it goes against free markets, and is a step towards communism.

The third reason given — women work for smaller companies — would be a valid justification to pay an executive less. Much harder for a smaller company to make the same payouts.

Rather than support the thesis, that there is a “double-pane glass ceiling” for women in business, other parts of the article suggest there are perfectly legitimate reasons women in top positions are earning less on average than men.

Further, this linked article provides a very reasonable explanation for the “wage gap”: men and women, on average, make different life choices. Sure, if we take free choice away, we could obtain wage parity.

“Securities legislation passed in 2017 created a “comply or explain” model for diversity on corporate boards, rather than setting quotas for the number of women, for instance. Macdonald’s report, citing a decade of data from Norway where quotas have increased the number of women on boards, suggests quotas aren’t the answer to closing the pay gap.”

Spoken too soon. There have been efforts to force social engineering on major companies, and the evidence still doesn’t show the difference disappearing.

“About a third of CEO pay is in the form of bonuses, supposedly tied to stock prices, and another quarter is in the form of stock options.
.
The CCPA argues this has the effect of promoting short-term thinking that boosts stock prices, but is not necessarily good management.
.
“With so much of CEO total pay being variable and related to short-term stock price fluctuations, there is a strong incentive to forego long-term investments that may depress present-day profits in favour of short-term decisions, like under-investment, that will boost current profits and stock prices,” the report says.”

This seems to reinforce the earlier suggestion that men in charge of companies have companies that perform better. This may be a knock against capitalism itself, but at no point does it show evidence for the “double-pane glass ceiling” that is keeping women down.

Perhaps there are other factors that explain the “wage gap”.

Men Are Killed More At Work

CLICK HERE, for the recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (US) released in the U.S. on December 18.

Look on page 4, specifically on the divide on gender and occupational injury resulting in death. There were listings for 2016 and 2017 on a per-capita basis (per 100,000 people). Note: it excluded: 1/ children under 16 years of age; 2/ volunteers; and 3/ military personnel.

2016, for women there were 387 deaths per 100,000 workers,
2016, for men there were 4,803 deaths per 100,000 workers.

2017, for women there were 386 deaths per 100,000 workers.
2017, for men there were 4761 deaths per 100,000 workers.

From this, we can determine that men were 12.4 times more likely to be killed at work than women in 2016, and 12.3 times more likely in 2017. At least this is the case in the U.S.

Men Work In More Physical And Dangerous Jobs

CLICK HERE, for a Bureau of Labor Statistic release in 1995. Most of the physical and dangerous jobs are ones with a majority of men.

Men Work More Hours

CLICK HERE, for the actual link.

This one, citing a 2007 data collection, showed men working on average 39.5 hours per week, while woman worked 33.2 hours per week.

CLICK HERE, for another StatsCan graph showing overtime. An interesting split, men were more likely to work “paid” overtime, while women were more likely to work “unpaid” overtime.

Men And Women Have Different Work Patterns
We could go on endlessly about the differences in work, work type, overtime, and danger. However, the data is clear from the research available. These are just a few data sets chosen, from Statistics Canada and the BLS in the United States.

Despite being regularly debunked, the “wage gap” is still thrown around as if there is actually some human right.

Yes, there are difference in how much men and women are paid. But there are legitimate reasons for those differences.