Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 04/10/2026"Foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor argued that “the U.S. role in Brazil’s election” was “criminally under-discussed in the U.S.,” and journalist Noah Kulwin issued a similar but far more blunt assessment." From Raw Story after Trump cancelled all US consular services days before election. 000
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Mark Carney's version of nationalism aims to unite all Canadians behind investors in our country but with a few big caveats: you can go fuck yourself if you are a worker of an Indigenous person, or if you care about the environment. 000
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026From HUMANS: Surviving foraging societies share "a set of values: communal ownership of lands and resources, egalitarian decision-making, gender equality... the persistence of such values..causes many scholars to accept that such...societies reveal [much] about the long history of our species." 010
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Many "think tanks" were funded by "the multi-billionaire Koch Brothers, Charles and David, who controlled a vast business empire that included fossil fuel production, chemicals, pulp and paper, and ranching." Hence, the "Kochtopus." (3 of 3) 020
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026"Americans for Prosperity, the CATO Institute, the Federalist Society, & the State Policy Network were part of the Kochtopus of institutes carrying out slanted research and/or disseminating it." Fox News stories "disguised a big business agenda behind a facade of protecting the little people." (2) 010
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026From my book, Humans: The 3000 Year Struggle for Equality: Business efforts to sell right-wing economic ideas after WW2 failed because people distrusted billionaires. So business sponsored "think tanks whose employees could pretend to be objectives researchers and commentators" plus Fox News. (1) 020
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026"Can a species that started out so well & stayed cooperative, peaceful and egalitarian for most of its existence be now written off as hopeless and condemned to destroy most of life on this planet?" A question posed in my book, Humans: The 300,000 Year Struggle for Equality. 171
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026See my post, "What Canada Has Done for Alberta," on Change Alberta Facebook for a historical refutation of the manufactured arguments of Alberta separatists (Yes, some ask, "why stay on fascist Facebook?" The answer is I have almost 12,000 followers there who aren't going to migrate with me). 020
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Trump says the only safeguard needed against AI threats is a "STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT." The multiple threats that AI poses to the continuation of human life, to peace, to jobs, and to the environment cannot be tackled by any one person, much less brainless, narcissist, amoral Trump. 130
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026How fascist Trump is suppressing reporting of his and his entourage's criminal past and present actions and future plans: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/u...nytimes.comHow Trump Is Wielding Power to Stifle SpeechPresident Trump has harnessed agencies across the government to curtail press freedoms, a sweeping campaign that free speech advocates say will have lasting effects. 051
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026The Gini coefficient, a measure of distribution of wealth in which 0 means total equality and 1 means one fat pig gets it all, the Geo Factbook for 2025 reports the US Gini at 41.8 vs. 29.9 for Canada. Thanks to fucking Trump, the US Gini, that is inequality, rose 2 full points in 2025 over 2024. 071
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Adding to my last post, with something from my book, Humans: The 300,000 Year Struggle for Equality, US productivity rose 70% from 1980 to 2015. But income of the bottom 50% of American households didn't rise at all while the top .1 percent got a 322 percent increase. 171
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026The UBS Global Wealth Report, 2025 shows average Canadian citizens are 23% wealthier than average US citizens when factoring in public healthcare and social supports. Yes, the US is #2 in the world in terms of average incomes and Canada only #13. Subtracting medical payments changes calculations. 1152
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Yes, US 9/11 was a tragedy. But for progressives 9/11 was already a tragic date: the day in 1973 when the US-aided Chilean military overthrew the elected socialist government of Salvador Allende that had nationalized the American-controlled copper industry. US imperialism kills. 1131
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Union Bank of Switzerland reports US is 2nd in world on average incomes vs. Canada at 13th. On MEDIAN incomes Canada is 7th and US is 13th. Redistributive policies matter and explain why Canadian poverty rates are lower than US rates. 150
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Canadians are reacting to Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America by renaming the Orange Menace as Shitface Pedophile. 270
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Albertans, make sure to vote in the October 19 referendum--vote to stay in Canada and vote no on Smith's 9 racist and unconstitutional questions. To avoid line-ups that Smith's anti-machine-voting legislation makes inevitable, order a special ballot. www.elections.ab.ca/resources/me...elections.ab.caSpecial Ballot Requests Now Open for October 19 Referendum - Elections AlbertaEDMONTON, AB – Online applications to Vote by Mail are now open for the October 19, 2026, Referendum. Vote by Mail, also known as a Special Ballot, is available to all eligible Alberta electors. Elec... 082
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Encouragingly, rural Albertans, who could once be relied on to vote for a pile of manure if that's who the Conservatives nominated, are uniting against UCP efforts to impose data centres throughout the province--with no environmental assessment or local input. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...theglobeandmail.comAlberta to host second town hall on AI data centres after jeers, boos at Wednesday eventResidents lined up to voice opposition, express distrust in the government 3175
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 19/08/2026The joys of private medical insurance in the US.https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/unitedhealth-s-crisis-deepens-lawsuit-alleges-medicare-fraud-algorithmic-care-denials-and-237-million-insider-sales/ar-AA2a2lTr 041
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 17/08/2026ASK NOT FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. IT TOLLS FOR YOU. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/16/u...nytimes.comYears of Trump Support Came Undone in 15 Minutes in an Airport.The case represents a new front in President Trump’s mass deportation drive: arrests at airports of people who have active immigration cases and no criminal history. 172
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 17/08/2026I think you'd enjoy my latest book, Humans: The 300,000 Year Struggle for Equality. It's a positive, socialist vision of human history but with no punches pulled re oppression. Here's the publisher's page that includes 4 chapters of the book: lorimer.ca/adults/produ...lorimer.ca 241
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Francesca Hong's near-win as Dem candidate for Wisconsin governor, which the bourgeois media use to show "limits" to US socialist growth is is another demonstration of the impressive spread of progressive thinking. Given generations of propaganda vs. egalitarianism in the US, it's a hopeful sign. 162
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 11/08/2026"On thornier issues such as loss of jobs from AI, autonomous weapons and government surveillance, Zuckerberg mostly brushed them aside." In short, the billionaires, who call for unregulated AI, meaning they alone will call the shots, refuse to address the issues of interest to the rest of us. 0124
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Tobias Lutke's call for extra votes for the wealthy to allow them to preserve their wealth demonstrates the filthy rich in Canada, as in the US, and likely everywhere else, disdain democracy. Like the Nazis, who came to power because of industrial support, today's capitalists are not democrats. 0134
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 23/07/2026As an historian of social welfare globally, I know that in many countries guaranteed health care, higher minimum wages, and the right to join unions were granted, often by conservative governments, as a way to fend off communism. Only in the US are such measures claimed to constitute communism. 1122
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 22/07/2026My debate with Danielle Smith in Alberta Views magazine in 2018. She was just a far right radio personality at the time but she revealed her corporate shill ideology that she disguised in the 2023 provincial election. Her main mentor, as she admits, is Ayn Rand! albertaviews.ca/rightful-rol...albertaviews.caDialogue: The Rightful Role of GovernmentDanielle Smith and Alvin Finkel differ (respectively) on the role of government. 272
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Trump's decision to impose brutal tariffs on Canada is a distraction from his defeat in Iran which, in turn, resulted from his effort to distract Americans from his suppression of the parts of the Epstein files that reveal his pedophilia. He wants Americans to focus on imaginary external enemies. 140
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 22/07/2026I think you'd enjoy my latest book, Humans: The 300,000 Year Struggle for Equality. It's a positive, socialist vision of human history but with no punches pulled re oppression. Here's the publisher's page that includes 2 chapters of the book: lorimer.ca/adults/produ...lorimer.ca 130
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Lopsided distribution of wealth in the US: US is #2 globally in AVERAGE WEALTH per capita, Canada a mere #13. But in MEDIAN WEALTH per capita, Canada rises to #7 and the US falls to a lowly #28. Why? Because the ultra-wealthy in the US distort the average & medians reveal distribution of wealth. 093
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Trump claims Biden let the population explode. But official figures for US population increase show that the rate of increase from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2024 are almost exactly the same as the increase from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2020. A little less in the latter! No increase from Trump to Biden. 081
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Shallow stuff in NY Times re "who was George Washington?" He was a slaver & land speculator in the Ohio Valley. French and Indigenous people whipped his ass there (1754). In 1764, broke, Britain signed the Niagara Treaty with Pontiac, ceding the Valley. The pissed land speculator led a revolution. 070
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Most Americans don't know that Washington & Jefferson were huge land speculators in the Ohio Valley who turned vs. Britain when it ended a war with Pontiac & 18 First Nations he lead by ceding them the Valley. Land speculators were livid. The US revolution was a disaster for Indigenous peoples. 1112
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 03/07/2026A precedent for Trump's use of presidency to make a fortune: Geo Washington used his presidency to nullify the Niagara Treaty between Indigenous people in the Ohio Valley & Britain to reserve the full Valley for Indigenous people. Washington, a huge speculator in the Valley, then made a killing. 051
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 19/06/2026www.thenation.com/article/worl...thenation.comSpain’s Left Has a New Frontier: Democracy at WorkSpanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz speaks about the next frontier of labor rights and how her government is making the case for workplace democracy. 090
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 17/06/2026A Globe story today says AHS is opposing Athana Mentzelopoulos from using 425 of 450 documents she wants to use in her court case, claiming they are "confidential." So much for Danielle Smith's claim she wants authorities to get to the bottom of the accusations re corrupt contract practices. 151
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 15/06/2026The UFC cage with mindless male violence within is a potent symbol of mainstream American history that Trump represents. But there is also a history of resistance to capitalist greed, racism, misogyny, violence, and mindless environmental destruction. That needs to become the new mainstream. 0100
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 12/06/2026"..unsettling truth that emerges from these conversations & my reporting says less about the content of the emails and much more about the culture of big law firms. She looked past his 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution & solicitation of prostitution in the pursuit of business." 030
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 10/06/2026"The main thesis of the article is that Trump could not make the public forget about Epstein, no matter what he did, and he continued to prove that Wednesday morning." New Republic re NYT article today that documents Trump's frantic efforts to suppress the Epstein files and discussion about them. 030
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 05/06/2026An example of someone with a rough past is Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba, a proud, accomplished Indigenous man. Conservatives said he was "running from his past." His reply: "My past is the reason I'm running." He wanted those making life changes to know society would value their contributions. 194
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 05/06/2026"still in Congo is fellow Colombian, Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata, despite a federal judge ordering the Trump administration last month to bring her back to the U.S. She was deported to Congo even though it had refused to accept her because it could not care for her medical needs." Trump is murderer. 040
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 25/05/2026“The focus on ‘illegal’ immigration was a lie meant to distract from their true goal of reducing immigration of all kinds, and we are now watching that vision become reality,” said Amanda Baran, a former Biden administration D.H.S. official who worked on legal immigration matters." Trump is a Nazi. 041
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 24/05/2026"We're not telling people don't buy Canadian products, and we're not telling people don't travel to Canada." You are telling people there shouldn't be Canadian products, particularly auto and steel & that Canada should become a US suburb. So, fuck you, Mr. Hoekstra, acolyte of Pres. Shithead. 181
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 20/05/2026Lying narcissist:"Trump..referred to Cornyn as a “good man” who worked alongside him on multiple issues..he slammed him for being “very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself, both of which were Landslide Victories.” 050
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 15/05/2026"Liberals" and the "centre-left" seem increasingly to be relatively well-paid professionals who think "left" policies mean simply increasing budgets for health, education, and social services while ignoring the cost of living for working-class folks. And then we claim the latter are self-seeking! 060
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 14/05/2026I just wrote a Leadnow letter: Demand MPs: Stand up to Big Oil and protect our future. Write one here: leadnow.ca/campaigns/cl...leadnow.caDemand MPs: Stand up to Big Oil - Leadnow 051
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 03/05/2026The Cdn progressive left is less impressed with PM Carney's Liberals than most Canadian voters. While Carney's standing up to fascist Trump has won support from Canadians generally, the left views him as being another banker on issues like AI, environment, & Israel. www.ipolitics.ca/2026/05/03/p...ipolitics.caProgressive-left outlets sound the alarm over Carney's 'technological utopianism', urge NDP to join AI backlashHere’s what the activist media is reporting on this week. 081
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 03/05/2026The US has a long history of imperialism, racism, sexism & class inequalities it cannot bury if Americans want to fight Trumpism in a way that assures its long-term defeat. Trump is a symbol of the sickness in US society but like most symbols he is the tip of the iceberg. Radical change is needed. 0132
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 27/04/2026 “Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.” But it's collective revolt, not individual assassination, that creates real change & removes from office "a pedophile, rapist, and traitor" without a clone as new pres. 070
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 15/04/2026John Kelly revealed yesterday Trump often told him Hitler "did some good things." Even the European fascists, for the most part, do not want to be seen as committers of genocide, something Trump sees no problems with being. Meloni, the pro-fascist PM of Italy, former Trump fan, is now his enemy. 1102
Alvin Finkel @alvinfinkel.bsky.social · 13/04/2026" an eight-minute ramble at a Christmas reception about poisonous snakes in Peru, a long digression during a cabinet meeting about Sharpie pens, an interruption of an Iran war update to praise the White House drapes." Crazy stuff from Trump who babbles re drapes while threatening to destroy Iran. 040