Briarpatch articles from December 2007

Briarpatch archives from December 2007

Maria Fischer, 1920-2007.(The Business End of the 'Patch)(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... BRIARPATCH'S FOUNDING EDITOR, Maria Fischer, died peacefully in her home in Ladysmith, B.C., on October 3, 2007 at the age of 87. Fischer was a lifelong believer in social justice and solidarity. As founding editor of Notes from the Briar...

Moving on.(The Business End of the 'Patch)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... BRIARPATCH ALSO BIDS FAREWELL, though with much less finality, to Nikko Snyder, who has been kicking ass in the role of Publisher for us for the past year. Nikko's expertise in the field has been a tremendous asset to the magazine, and she has...

Seeing the light.(The Business End of the 'Patch)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... BEGINNING WITH A GENEROUS TRIPLE helping in this issue, Briarpatch is pleased to begin serializing Claudia Davila's peak oil comic, Luz: Girl of the Knowing. Davila is based in Toronto, and works in children's publishing as an illustrator and...

Volunteer appreciation social.(The Business End of the 'Patch)
December 1, 2007... Briarpatch's volunteer appreciation social will take place from 4 pm to 8 pm on Tuesday, December 4 at Huston House, 2138 McIntyre St. There'll be two floors of carousing and merriment to choose from, with SCIC's holiday open house occurring...

Strange times call for bold moves.(Letter from the Editor)(Editorial)
December 1, 2007... yes they're buying and selling off shares of air and you know it's all around you but it's hard to point and say "there" so you just sit on your hands and quietly contemplate your next bold move ANI DIFRANCO It's a long way down...

Quibbles with Kovel.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2007... WHILE I CONCUR WITH JOEL KOVEL ("THE One-State Solution," Aug. 2007) that Zionist Apartheid must be ended, I can't see that trying to democratize politically and militarily occupied Palestine in one go would be any easier than trying to achieve...

Depression is a labour issue.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2007... I READ THE TWO FEATURE ARTICLES ON "mental illness" ("The Social Sources of Madness" by J. F. Conway and "Buying Happiness" by Peter Dodson, Sept./Oct. 2007) with great interest. I believe the apparent contradiction between the correlation of...

Beyond the pale.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2007... IT WAS SYCHRONICITY WORTHY OF CARL Jung that a letter to the editor ("False idols," Sept./Oct. 2007) obliquely defining Mr. Annett as being a bit, um, unhinged, and therefore unworthy of the ministry of the United Church, was included in the...

Specious speciesism.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2007... "As LONG AS HUNTING IS DISMISSED AS unethical while the act of paying for food at the grocery store is seen as benign, we are unlikely to make much progress," states Joe Schmutz ("Dinner Plate Ethics," August 2007). This is a false...

Trail-blazing: notes from a cross-Canada community road trip.(Personal account)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In July 2007, Shayna Stock and Dominique Fenton set off on a cross-country journey in search of community, planning to document their findings in words and images. They introduced the project in the August 2007 issue...

Blind drunk: what the label on a Canadian wine bottle won't tell you.
December 1, 2007... DO THE 100-MILE DIET! Eat local! Eat your scenery! It was with these slogans in my head that I decided to host two 100-mile Harvest Dinners this fall at my home in downtown Toronto. Sixteen people participated in each dinner, and each of us...

Malaria as a weapon of war: life and death on the Thai/Burma border.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Behind the recent headlines, Burma's military dictatorship has been waging a brutal war against the country's ethnic minorities for decades--and malaria is one of its most deadly weapons. Veteran photojournalist...

"Green" prospects: conflicting priorities in B.C.'s Northwest: how B.C.'s so-called "green" electrification project supports the exploitation of northern mineral resources.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ON MARCH 13, 2007, PRIME MINISTER Stephen Harper, with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell at his side, proudly announced that the federal government would provide B.C. with $199.3 million to support provincial...

Green is not the only colour: reflections on the state of anti-racist environmentalism in Canada.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CAN THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT in Canada continue to organize on an agenda of "green" politics, devoid of any critical engagement with issues of race? Given Canada's multicultural reality and the long-standing...

Luz: girl of the knowing.(Cartoon)
December 1, 2007... It's time luz writers her list. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... And know the place for the first time. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Luz: girl of the knowing: city night starlight.(Cartoon)
December 1, 2007... Ooh, the moon is so full tonight! And almost as bright as the street lights. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hey, there's venua! and... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... Just an airplane. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Is it possible...

Luz: girl of the knowing: of heart and hand.(Cartoon)
December 1, 2007... Good morning, Mrs. Desouza! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ah, Luz! How are you? Good! Mind if I watch how you garden? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mmm, well, today I taking care of the bugs and the weeds. Uh-huh... ...

Canada in Afghanistan: the war so far.
December 1, 2007... Canada in Afghanistan The war so far By Peter Pigott Dundurn Press, 2007 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WITH THIS BOOK, aviation author Peter Pigott betrays both his limited experience as an "embedded" reporter and his ideological limitations...

New government, old problems: rural expectations weigh heavily on Saskatchewan's new government.(Parting Shots)
December 1, 2007... SASKATCHEWAN VOTERS DON'T change governments very easily. Prior to November s election, the NDP government had been in power for 16 years. The Progressive Conservative government of Grant Devine before that held power for 10 years. And Devine,...