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April 12, 2010 - No. 68 Katyn Forest Resurrecting Historical Falsifications• Katyn Forest:
Resurrecting
Historical Falsifications Colombia Katyn Forest Resurrecting Historical FalsificationsThe tragic Polish plane crash on April 10, 2010, which killed 132 passengers including Polish President Lech Kaczynski and other Polish leaders, is being used to resurrect the historical falsifications blaming the Soviet Union and Stalin for the war-time deaths of the Polish officers in Katyn Forest. One commentator actually called the plane crash "a second Katyn massacre." The Russian leadership has been actively colluding with this propaganda since 1990 when Mikhail Gorbachev, seeking to restore capitalism by totally dismantling the vestiges of socialism, sought to curry favour with Poland and the U.S., by suddenly "confessing" that the Nazis were innocent! Subsequently, forged documents were released which "validated" Gorbachev's claim. Continuing the farce, in February 2010, Russian leader Vladimir Putin invited Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to attend a "Katyn Memorial" in April in Smolensk. It was during the April 10 flight to this memorial that the Polish airline crashed, killing all aboard. The lies about Katyn Forest were first presented to the world in 1943 by Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels and have been repeated over and over just as Goebbels said "big lies" should be told. During the war, the allies agreed that the Nazis committed the crime. The method of extermination was a standard Nazi method. The Poles were shot with German made Walther pistols and bullets. Further, in 1941 when the crime was committed, Nazi Germany had advanced into Soviet territory and captured the city of Smolesnk where the camps were located which housed the Polish officers. At that time Nazi Germany was at war with Poland while the Soviet Union was at peace with Poland. Roosevelt declared that he was convinced of Nazi Germany's responsibility. U.S. Ambassador Averell Harriman, a leading U.S. monopoly capitalist of the time, sent his daughter Kathleen Harriman to Katyn during a Soviet inquiry into the executions in 1944 and she endorsed the Soviet findings. At the London conference that drew up the indictments of German war crimes before the Nuremberg trials, the U.S. negotiator agreed to include the Soviet allegation, "In September 1941, 925 Polish officers who were prisoners of war were killed in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk." This refers to the 925 bodies disinterred by the Bordenko Commission in January 1944. The commission examined bodies not previously examined by the Germans. The facts show that 4,143 bodies were actually found. Russian media now speak of 15,000 Polish officers while western monopoly media speak of 22,000. It is instructive to note that in the entire conversation about Katyn Forest nowhere is the undisputable historical fact mentioned that the Nazi invasion of Poland killed 6,000,000 Polish citizens. This apparently is an event of no consequence, unworthy of discussion. The horrendous Nazi war crimes committed against the Poles and other peoples of the world are considered a "relic of the past," a historical footnote to be brushed aside. In fact, the entire history of the anti-fascist war is brushed aside, because serious discussion of it would expose how the U.S. and British ruling circles tried to use Hitler and the Nazis to destroy the Soviet Union. Further, it would expose the blatant attempt of the imperialists today to rehabilitate the Nazis and whitewash their crimes. Instead, propaganda is poured out non-stop about the "15,000" or "22,000" victims in Katyn Forest. The omission of any discussion of the massacre of 6,000,000 Poles and countless other crimes by the Nazis clearly demonstrates that the whole conversation about Katyn Forest has nothing to do with concern of the fate of the victims but is only about repeating historical falsifications to fulfill an agenda. On November 9, 2009, The Marxist-Leninist Daily pointed out that the imperialists and the reactionary bourgeoisie have a number of reasons for repeating the falsification of history. First, they are desperate to preserve the status quo and are terrified by the prospect of their downfall. Modern communism is their greatest fear. Their fear is so great that they are afraid of anyone even discussing modern communism. Second, they are trying to disorient the workers and youth and block them from grasping the prospect of a bright future and the means to achieve it. They want to scare the gullible, justify reaction, and promote reactionary reforms in the name of change. Their hope is that they can terrorize the people into renouncing their desire for revolutionary change. Third, it is part of their worldwide anti-social offensive against change and the new. This includes forging an unholy alliance with whoever will join them, including the most reactionary elements from the past and the present. Fourth, it is an attempt to divert attention from their own crimes committed in the name of "democracy," as well as a pretext to commit further crimes against the people. Fifth, it is an attempt to put anti-communism back on the pedestal it was knocked off during WWII due to the huge contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of fascism. They want to use J.V. Stalin, the Soviet Union, and communism as a scapegoat for the world's problems which they themselves have caused. Third Session of 40th Parliament ResumesThe third session of Canada's 40th Parliament resumes sitting today, Monday, April 12. The business of the day will include the second reading and resumption of the debate on the Budget Bill, C-9, Jobs and Economic Growth Act, introduced by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty (former Finance Minister of Ontario during the Harris Government). Flaherty's budget speech, "Leading the Way on Jobs and Growth," was presented March 4, with the introduction of Bill C-9 for first reading. As well, a private member's bill sponsored by Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff Bill C-471, Pay Equity Task Force Recommendations Act will be introduced for second reading and debate. The third session of the 40th Parliament opened on March 3 with the reading of the Throne Speech by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, ending Prime Minister Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament on December 30, 2009. The latest Throne Speech is the third since Harper came to power in October 2008. All business being dealt with in the second session by Parliamentary and Senate Committees ended with prorogation and Harper used this opportunity to strengthen his hand in the Senate. He appointed five new senators on January 29, boosting the number of Conservative Party appointees in the 105-seat Senate to 51, compared to 49 for the Liberals, two from the defunct Progressive Conservatives and three who are unaffiliated. These committees have been newly constituted in the third session, incorporating the new senators. This was the third time in a little over a year that Harper appointed members to the Senate, having named 18 new senators in December 2008 and nine others in August 2009.[1] Legislation tabled by the government and the Senate during the second session of the 40th Parliament was thrown out with prorogation and the new session of Parliament started with a blank slate. This created the conditions for Harper to reintroduce legislation, free of amendments introduced in previous sessions. In the Throne Speech the Conservative Government stated: "Our government will propose laws ensuring that for multiple murderers, life means life and requiring that violent offenders serve their time in jail, not in the luxury of home. It will reintroduce tough legislation to combat the organized criminal drug trade. Our government will respect the will of Canadians by reintroducing this legislation in its original form."[2] Status of BusinessIn the 22 days from the opening of the third session until April 1 when the Parliament closed for a week-long break, 11 government bills were introduced, along with three Senate Bills:[3] Pursuant to Order 86.1, private members' bills were automatically reinstated at the start of the third session on March 3, with the same name and standing as before. The following is the status of business as of the end of the day on April 1, 2010: House of Commons C-2 Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
Implementation Act (first reading) Senate S-2 An Act to amend the Criminal Code and
other Acts
(first reading) Adopted/Royal Assent C-6 Appropriation Act No. 5, 2009-10
(re: expenditures
for year-ending March 31, 2010) Negatived Bill C-444, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act (broadcasting and telecommunications policies) was rejected at second reading on March 24, 2010. A similar bill, C-540, was introduced in a previous Parliament (39th Parliament, 2nd Session) An opposition motion on Maternal and child health was defeated on March 23, 2010; 138 (yeas) to 144 (nays) for a total of 282 votes Anti-Prorogation MotionA non-binding motion on prorogation, sponsored by NDP Leader, Jack Layton, was passed on March 17, 2010 with a vote of 139 to 135 for a total of 274 votes "That, in the opinion of the House, the Prime Minister shall not advise the Governor General to prorogue any session of any Parliament for longer than seven calendar days without a specific resolution of this House of Commons to support such a prorogation."[4] When asked in the debate on the motion whether he was prepared to support the NDP's proposal, Prime Minister Harper responded: "Mr. Speaker, to change executive powers in the Canadian Constitution, a constitutional amendment is required. However, if the leader of the Bloc -- excuse me, I meant to say the leader of the New Democratic Party, but sometimes it amounts to the same thing -- wants to form his coalition with the Bloc and the Liberal Party instead of changing the Constitution, he should seek a mandate from the people of Canada."[5] Afghan Detainee IssueOn December 10, a motion was passed in the House of Commons calling on the government to provide the Military Police Complaints Commission with the unredacted documents concerning Canadian forces in Afghanistan and the treatment of Afghan detainees. According to the rules of Parliament, this motion was not affected by the prorogation. Members of Harper's Cabinet continue to refuse to comply with the motion passed on December 10, and may be subject to a charge of contempt of Parliament. When called on to address this issue on March 4, Prime Minister Harper responded: "Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows that the decision of redacting or not redacting documents rests with government lawyers who do that according to the law. There have been literally tens of thousands of pages of documents released and all of those have indicated over and over again that the Canadian Forces have conducted themselves with the highest performance of all countries. [...] "Mr. Speaker, rules for the publication of documents have been established by law. Government lawyers are the ones who make these types of decisions. They have released tens of thousands of pages of documents. [...] "Mr. Speaker, the honourable member will note, of course, that on the date in question there was a new transfer agreement in place. This government concluded a new transfer agreement three years ago. It is ironic that the Liberal Party, which was in Afghanistan for four years before we came to office, now questions the transfer arrangements that it had established. [...] "Not only am I not aware of any complaints about this transfer agreement, but in fact, this issue has already been to court and the government's position has been upheld. [...]"[6] Showing the Harper government's contempt for Parliament, the following day, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Rob Nicholson "rose on a point of order related to the December 10 motion adopted by this House on relating to the access to documents."[7] He announced that the government has engaged former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Frank Iacobucci, to undertake "an independent, comprehensive and proper review of the documents at issue, including the information that was proposed to be withheld from release. [...] Mr. Iacobucci will prepare a report, in both official languages, that I will table in this House. That report will include a description of his methodology and general findings."[8] Discussion on this matter has continued throughout the Session, including on the question of whether cabinet ministers could be found in contempt of Parliament if they continue to not comply with the motion.[9] On April Fool's Day, the Conservatives submitted 6,200 pages of redacted documents to Parliament,[10] once again showing the government's utter contempt for Parliament. Notes1. "Harper names 5 to Senate,"
CBC News, January
29, 2010 Nova Scotia NDP's 2010 BudgetNova Scotia's Finance Minister Graham Steele's budget "Back to Balance: The Four Year Plan" introduced in the Nova Scotia Legislature on April 6, 2010 makes the claim of being a budget of many firsts. One "first" is the claim that this budget "marks the first step back to balance" and another is that this budget "represents a new course for Nova Scotia." Both statements in and of themselves cannot be refuted. That is to say, we could in fact see a balanced budget in a few years and this could be a new course for Nova Scotia. But a balanced budget is merely so when expenditures are equal to receipts. And, a new course could very well be in the same direction as the old course and could have the very same destination! It could just be a different way in getting to the end. First, if a balanced budget is when expenditures are equal to receipts one must ask, "What are the expenditures and what are the receipts?" For example, one could earn $25,000 in a year and spend all that revenue on shelter for that year and declare,"I have a balanced budget!" But wait! What about food, shelter, power, heat, transportation, activities and so on? We obviously can't look at just the whole; we have to analyze all its parts to get to the heart of the matter. What government is spending its revenue on, and how its creating revenue is important. It also is where we find what a government is truly interested in accomplishing as a government. Besides the usual rhetoric of "tough decisions" the NDP claims "It is our responsibility to deal with it -- to clean up the mess -- so that Nova Scotia's future is not compromised." Again, what is the mess is of importance so that we can properly clean it up. But, Mr. Steele, declares that the mess is simply "Expenses were rising faster that revenue. The gap between how much we spend and how much we take in was growing bigger, and would have continued to grow even when the recession ends." Again, on an individual level, one can simply say that you must take your $25,000 per year and make more or spend less on shelter not to mention those other essentials. This leads us to belt tightening, as in: we all have to endure cuts to social programs, increased taxes and job losses in order to balance the budget. It also brings us to an issue of perspective. For the working people of Nova Scotia, uncertainty is no stranger. Nor are job cuts, plant closures, mine closures, unemployment, and poverty. Schools are underfunded, hospitals are understaffed, unemployment is high -- what exactly is government spending its revenues on if all this is the case? It could be said that the Harper government determines its budget on paying the rich -- can the same also be said of the Dexter government? Is their new course the same end of governments at all levels across Canada? That is, cutting social programs/jobs/pensions and paying the rich? On what basis is the balanced budget reached? Monopoly right? Or public right? I would certainly like to see a balanced budget where it is the monopolies that provide the revenues for government they generated from the toil of Nova Scotians and soil of Nova Scotia and the expenditures are on social programs! That is a balanced budget achieved on the basis of restricting monopoly right! Colombia U.S. and Colombia Cover Up Atrocities
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The biggest human rights
scandal in years is developing
in Colombia, though you wouldn't notice it from the total lack of media
coverage here. The largest mass grave unearthed in Colombia was
discovered by accident last year just outside a Colombian Army base in
La Macarena, a rural municipality located
in the Department of Meta just south of Bogota. The grave was
discovered when children drank from a nearby stream and started to
become seriously ill. These illnesses were traced to runoff from what
was discovered to be a mass grave -- a grave marked only with small
flags showing the dates (between 2002 and
2009) on which the bodies were buried.| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2005 to 2009 | 2008 to 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ current, on a customs basis | |||||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||||
| Largest trading partners | |||||||
| Exports | |||||||
| United States | 365,741 | 359,135 | 355,610 | 375,480 | 269,515 | -26.3 | -28.2 |
| United Kingdom | 8,256 | 10,137 | 12,798 | 13,020 | 12,100 | 46.6 | -7.1 |
| China | 7,214 | 7,802 | 9,512 | 10,473 | 11,160 | 54.7 | 6.6 |
| Japan | 9,169 | 9,420 | 9,223 | 11,092 | 8,314 | -9.3 | -25.0 |
| Mexico | 3,366 | 4,376 | 4,962 | 5,844 | 4,806 | 42.8 | -17.8 |
| All other countries | 42,606 | 49,495 | 58,308 | 67,672 | 53,489 | 25.5 | -21.0 |
| Total | 436,351 | 440,365 | 450,413 | 483,579 | 359,384 | -17.6 | -25.7 |
| Imports | |||||||
| United States | 215,155 | 217,845 | 220,903 | 227,285 | 186,729 | -13.2 | -17.8 |
| China | 29,516 | 34,508 | 38,309 | 42,623 | 39,655 | 34.3 | -7.0 |
| Mexico | 14,595 | 16,019 | 17,179 | 17,917 | 16,527 | 13.2 | -7.8 |
| Japan | 14,801 | 15,327 | 15,458 | 15,288 | 12,350 | -16.6 | -19.2 |
| Germany | 10,272 | 11,165 | 11,532 | 12,712 | 10,661 | 3.8 | -16.1 |
| All other countries | 96,519 | 102,181 | 103,891 | 118,151 | 99,104 | 2.7 | -16.1 |
| Total | 380,858 | 397,044 | 407,272 | 433,976 | 365,024 | -4.2 | -15.9 |
(Statistics Canada)
China Reports Trade Deficit for March
Chinese customs authorities announced April 10 that the nation had posted its first trade deficit in six years in March, at U.S.$7.2 billion.
Exports from China rose 24.3 percent in March to U.S.$112.1 billion from the same month a year earlier, while imports soared 66 percent year-on-year to U.S.$119.3 billion, the customs authorities said.
This was the first time that China imported more than it exported since it recorded a U.S.$2.26 billion deficit in April 2004.
China posted a global trade surplus of U.S.$14.5 billion in the first three months of this year, down 76.7 percent from the first quarter of 2009. The trade surplus was U.S.$7.6 billion in February and the combined January-February surplus was U.S.$21.8 billion.
The General Administration of Customs (GAC) figures show the surplus with the United States in March dropped 3.5 percent year on year to U.S.$9.87 billion and that with the European Union fell 13.1 percent to U.S.$6.96 billion.
In sharp contrast, China's March deficit with Japan more than tripled over the same month last year to 6.53 billion U.S. dollars while its deficit with the Republic of Korea jumped 76 percent to 6.13 billion U.S. dollars.
China's trade deficit in March with ASEAN countries rose to U.S.$2.7 billion from U.S.$300 million last year.
Also, the Chinese mainland's deficit with Taiwan amounted to U.S.$7.9 billion in March, up 78.7 percent year on year.
China's overall trade surplus for 2009 dropped by U.S.$100 billion, or 34.2 percent year on year, to U.S.$196.1 billion compared to 2008.
Trade within the Association of South East Asian Nations (plus three -- China, Japan and Republic of Korea) has greatly increased recently with agreements on currency swaps and other measures. ASEAN members are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Yao Jian, spokesperson for the Commerce Ministry of China said, "Under the situation where the yuan exchange rate was maintained basically stable, China's trade surplus continued to shrink, with a deficit occurring in March. This again shows that in an era of economic globalization, the deciding factor for balanced trade is not the exchange rate, but other factors."
Brian Jackson, senior strategist at Royal Bank of Canada, said China could still let its currency appreciate for domestic reasons, and "not to placate international pressure. They will want to move because it's in their own domestic interest to do so, in terms of dealing with inflationary pressures."
(Xinhua)
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