Briarpatch articles from December 2002

Briarpatch archives from December 2002

Openers.
December 1, 2002... ART RAFFLE You should have your book of tickets now or very soon. Please sell as many as you can and help keep Briarpatch publishing for another 30 years! The prizes, such as this stone carving by Lyndon Tootoosis, are very beautiful. ...

None shall push aside another, none shall let another fall.(history and goals of Briarpatch magazine)(Editorial)
December 1, 2002... We still have the master copy of the first Notes from the Briar Patch. It was produced in August 1973 and is very descriptive about the working conditions and lack of resources at that time. The magazine now known as Briarpatch was created at a...

Briarpatch benefit dance.(Regina, Saskatchewan, May 2003)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... If you are in Regina on Saturday May 3rd please join us at the Exchange, for a retro experience with the music of Three Hour Tour. Tickets are $12 at the door. We hope you will consult your photo album or yearbook and duplicate the fashion...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2002... BIRTHDAY GREETINGS Dear Briarpatch, Just a note of hearty congratulations on the occasion of your 30th birthday. It sure doesn't seem like 10 years have passed since I wrote an article for your 20th, in which I reminisced a bit about...

Air and water increasingly polluted. (Excerpt from Briarpatch article from the 70s).(pesticide use in agriculture)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Saskatchewan residents can prepare themselves for yet another growing season confident their health will take another beating. Spraying of agricultural areas will start soon and with it the accompanying danger for all residents through...

The proof about air and water pollution. (Current Situation in 2003).(anthropologist Dr. Elizabeth Guilette's research into effects of pesiticides on children's health)
December 1, 2002... American anthropologist Dr. Elizabeth Guillette, who documented the effects of long-term exposure to pesticides on the children in the Yaqui Valley of Mexico, is coming to Regina to address city council on May 12th Her work is the main focus of...

Anita Bryant: symptom of a sick society. (Excerpt from Briarpatch article from the 70s).
December 1, 2002... Briarpatch Regina news Bureau, July 1978 When Anita Bryant arrives in Moose Jaw on July 1, not everyone who comes to see her will be carrying a welcome sign. In fact many Saskatchewan residents are so strongly opposed to Bryant's...

Mending a sick society. (Current Situation in 2003).(amendment to Criminal Code calls for inclusion of "sexual orientation" in hate crimes legislation)
December 1, 2002... The House of Commons Justice Committee is currently studying my Private Member's Bill C-250, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, that seeks to add "sexual orientation" to the list of included grounds under hate propaganda legislation in Canada....

AIM: never in the gutter again (Anna Mae Aquash and Leonard Peltier). (Suppressing Resistance in the 70s).(American Indian Movement, Pine Ridge, South Dakota)
December 1, 2002... Many people were shocked when the Washington Post carried the news of Anna Mae Aquash's murder. The American Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the FBI originally claimed she died of exposure, but the truth finally came out: she was shot in the...

I wear the prison uniform with honour and pride. (Suppressing Resistance Now).(one of the 'Cuban Five', Ramon Labanino)
December 1, 2002... Ramon Labanino would love nothing more than to be home in Cuba with his wife, Elisabet Palmeiro, and his three young daughters. He missed out on precious time with his mother, who died in 1998. But Ramon gave up his personal life in Cuba to...

The anti-terrorism "crimes" of the Cuban five.
December 1, 2002... Since 1959, organizations like Alpha 66, Omega 7, Brothers to the Rescue, and Cuban American National Foundation have terrorized the Cuban people, conducted bombings, assassinations and other sabotage, and killing hundreds of innocent Cuban...

First it was.(Rev. Martin Neimoller, poet and activist in Nazi Germany)(Brief Article)(Poem)
December 1, 2002... FIRST IT WAS... First they came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak...

American Military and CIA interventions since World War II.(Brief Article)(Excerpt)
December 1, 2002... China 1945-1960s, Italy 1947-1948, Greece 1947-1950s, The Philippines 1940s and 1950s, Korea 1945-1953, Albania 1949-1953, Eastern Europe 1948-1956, Germany 1950s, Iran 1953, Guatemala 1953-1954, Costa Rica mid-1950s, Syria 1956-1957, The...

My Oscar "backlash".(Column)
December 1, 2002... It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in colonizing Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such magnitude that we will pay for it for years to come. So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction...

Changing hearts, minds and spirits.(Column)
December 1, 2002... In February 2003, I helped facilitate part of a training session for organizers who would be implementing the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour's labour-issues campaign. The organizers' work would include talking to grassroots union members who...

Mass murder by complacency: Africa forgotten.
December 1, 2002... The world's attention is riveted on the unfolding events in Iraq. Indeed it has been held captive since the lead up to the aggression. So much concern about mass destruction while it was happening under the world's watch. Since civil war...

Images of war.(author argues that graphic photographs are essential for educating the public about realities of war )(Column)
December 1, 2002... Say what you will about today's films; they appeal to the lowest common denominator, they use recycled plots, they are overly predictable. No matter what you may think of the state of our popular entertainment culture, every now and then...

Early world planner.(George Kennan comments on American foreign relations, 1948)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... George F. Kennan was one of the most intelligent and lucid American planners, and a major figure in shaping the world as it recovered from World War II. In 1948, Kennan wrote Policy Planning Study 23. It is considered a key document in the...

Road-map to the new Empire: from the initial plan, only prudence has been left by the side of the road. The following is an excerpt from their website.(goals of The Project of the New American Century)(Excerpt)
December 1, 2002... The Project for the New American Century is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to a few fundamental propositions: that American leadership is good both for America and for the world; that such leadership requires military strength,...

Pax Americana.(American foreign policy)
December 1, 2002... Things have moved so quickly, with the UN crisis and the war on Iraq, that it hard to grasp how we got to this point. But even before Bush and Blair gave the go-ahead for war, it was becoming quite widely known that a fundamental shift had...

Bullying and the pressure to conform.(actress Jenny Young stars in 'The Shape of a Girl')(Interview)
December 1, 2002... Actress Jenny Young has landed her dream role on stage and she's just 25 years old. A native of Vernon, BC, Young graduated from Vancouver's Studio 58 theatre program at Langara College in 2000. Soon after, she auditioned for the one and...

Bienfait: The Saskatchewan Miners' Struggles of '31. .(Book Review)
December 1, 2002... by Stephen Endicott 180 pages, $21.95, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2002 reviewed. It's champagne, croissants and literary types in suits and floor length gowns that show up for most book launching parties. But not in the...

Lord of the things? (My Opinion).(American imperialism and military might)(Column)
December 1, 2002... (Like oil, and people, and countries...) As the bombardment of Baghdad on the first night the bombs fell in earnest was portrayed on our television screens, a new term seemed necessary to capture what was happening. This was a new form of...

Teamsters against war. (Openers).
December 1, 2002... Watching the news leads one to believe that the American public is marching right behind their fearless president, but in reality land resistance to the war is growing rapidly and coalescing. This may be the army that saves the rest of us. ...

Whales want peace and quiet. (Openers).(sonar Submarine detector technology harmful to marine life)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Remember seeing on the news stories about whales beaching themselves? Did you wonder what could possibly be chasing them onto dry land and certain mass suicide? Well last month a California judge temporarily banned the American Navy's use of...

Fair Vote Campaign. (Openers).
December 1, 2002... "The result of the November 4th election in the Yukon is a textbook case on how Canada's first-past-the-post voting system distorts what voters say at the ballot box." says Larry Gordon, executive director of Fair Vote Canada (FVC). News...

Concerned in Regina! (Openers).
December 1, 2002... The heart of chemical farming lies in Saskatchewan. What happens at a meeting of the Parks & Rec Board on Wednesday, December 4th at 7:00 PM at Regina City Hall will be critical to the pesticide issue in Canada. If, by law, the use of...

When you can't see the forest for the billboards: a look behind the billboards at the impact that a consumer-based society has on the planet... and what we can do to restore balance.
December 1, 2002... I am an urban person. I recently realized that I spend more time walking on concrete than anything else. I lived in a big city, Toronto, for eight years but came to my senses and am happy to once again breathe the clean air and take in the...

Battle of the tanks: a 30 year campaign from the conservative think tanks has influenced the political culture of our country but not the political values of the people.
December 1, 2002... The 2nd annual Media Democracy Day took place in October. Organizers scheduled events in communities around the globe aiming to educate the public as to "how the media shapes our world and our democracy." Toronto hosted a number of events...

"Promiscuity" and eugenics: an Ontario senior reveals a little-known source of some of our current sexist and racist attitudes.
December 1, 2002... Velma Demerson was a criminal. She was 18, pregnant and in love with a Chinese-Canadian man. One morning in 1939, their breakfast ended abruptly as Demerson's father stormed in with police to have her arrested for being "incorrigible."...

Noam Chomsky visits Canada.
December 1, 2002... The middle week of November was an extraordinary one in the city of Hamilton. A rare level of debate, discussion and analysis was happening all over the city. The main reason for the uncommon intensity of engagement was a week-long visit from...

Killing competition for pills and beans.
December 1, 2002... Analysis of corporate globalization often omits some fundamental aspects of the workings of globalized capitalism. Coffee and drugs can open ones eves to the reality. Critics generally focus on how corporate globalization is opening the...

David and Goliath...yet again! A reporter for the Saskatoonb star phoenix stated that, "the business commuity is spooked by this turn of events".
December 1, 2002... On Sept. 12, 2002 a hearing in the Federal Court in Saskatoon was presided over by Justice Robert Campbell. Earlier, the members of the Inter Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-Operative (ICUCEC) had become convinced that an essential step...

The shopping club: members of a consumer co-op discover that their buying power can ensure ethical, affordable and healthy choices.
December 1, 2002... It all started with milk. In 1965, at a time when Japan's "so-called economic miracle" had prices for staples spiraling ever upward, a Tokyo woman organized 200 of her neighbours to buy 300 bottles of milk together, reducing the price. That...

The non-shopping club.
December 1, 2002... Avoid the consumer vortex during the holidays with ideas that have worked for others who are concerned about the negative aspects of consumerism such as exploitation of worker's, impact on the environment, or overwhelming credit card bills in...

What's wrong with war? (Culture).
December 1, 2002... WAR W - IS FOR WICKED. A - IS FOR AWFUL. R - IS FOR RANK. BY OWEN SMITH (11) Youth perspectives on the issues of war, security, justice and peace were collected by the Worldbeat Creative Writing Challenge when they...

Non-shop fun! (Culture and Reviews).
December 1, 2002... Are you sick and tired of being coerced into joining the herds of frenzied consumers in the chaos of the shopping malls? Looking for some non-shop fun and a way to deliver an important message about what those gifts really cost in terms of the...

"T" Time. (Reviews).
December 1, 2002... Norman Walker Prairie Pagan Music, 2002. normwalker@accesscomm.ca reviewed by Clare Powell Norman Walker has been around for a long time on the Regina folk music scene but seldom as a headliner. With the release of his first...

Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (Reviews).
December 1, 2002... a 22 minute video directed by Cliff Skelton National Film Board, 2002. www.nfb.ca Would the young people in your life know what to do if one of their friends was being lured into the sex trade? Would your child recognize a pimp...

This Land is Your Land: Songs of Unity. (Reviews).
December 1, 2002... Music for Little People, 2002. P.O. Box 1460 Redway, CA, USA 95560 www.mflp.com This CD is a delightful collection of songs and stories that celebrate diversity, respect for others, and the ability of ordinary people to...

Johnny got his Gun. (Book Reviews).
December 1, 2002... by Dalton Trumbo Random House P.O. Box 1902, Station A Toronto, ON M5W 1W9 The press plates for this compelling anti-war novel were bought from the original publisher by the author during the Korean War to prevent them from...

The First Casualty: Violence against Women in Canadian Military Communities. (Book Reviews).
December 1, 2002... by Deborah Harrison James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Toronto, 2002 reviewed by Jenn Ruddy The Canadian Armed Forces trains men to kill. It's no secret. It prepares many husbands all over the country for combat in a controlling...

Sitting on the fence: racism Canadian style. (My Opinion).
December 1, 2002... I would like to begin by first stating that I am not prejudiced, nor am I a racist. I have many white friends who are doctors, lawyers, bureaucrats and professors. When I was younger I played different sports with them, hockey and baseball are...