Briarpatch articles from February 2004

Briarpatch archives from February 2004

Euro power.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... Dear Briarpatch, The lies of the Bush administration about the bombing, invasion and occupation of Iraq have now been exposed, even in the corporate-owned media. As many of us concluded, "it was all about oil." But the reasons for the...

No one is illegal.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2004... Dear Briarpatch, As part of the long-term struggle of all non-status persons, refugee claimants have often been obliged to find "sponsors" before they will even be considered for status in Canada. Recently, dozens of non-status...

Correction.(Letters)(Correction Notice)
February 1, 2004... In our last issue, Jim Harding was referring to Roy Romanow. We apologize for spelling his name wrong.

Call off the dogs!(Openers Tlalnepantla, Morelos, Mexico www.democracynow.org)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... When the population of the town of Tlalnepantla, Morelos, just south of Mexico City, selected their local leadership using a traditional indigenous method that allows for votes from the entire adult population, this seemingly democratic...

So sue me!(Openers www.commondreams.org)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The United States is working to secure exemption agreements with every country in the world guaranteeing immunity for its citizens from prosecution under the new International Criminal Court (ICC). The threat to cut off military aid to...

Viva Cuba!(Openers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Cuba celebrated 45 years of freedom from capitalist exploitation on January 1st. Fidel Castro, who has been at the helm of the revolution since the beginning, is the world's longest-ruling head of government. Ten USA presidents have come and...

Cereal killer.(Openers Monsanto Co.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Amid increasing scepticism about our government's ability to make impartial decisions concerning the licensing of genetically modified (GM) wheat, Agriculture Canada is cancelling further investment in the work of Monsanto. The biotech giant...

Clean stores, but dirty business.(Wal-Mart)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... When immigration agents swooped into 60 Wal-Mart stores in the USA last October, the raid resulted in the arrests of 250 workers said to be illegal immigrants. Recently, nine of the workers have filed a lawsuit accusing Wal-Mart of...

Zapatista anniversary.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2004... Zapatismo is not an ideology, it is not a bought and paid for doctrine. It is an intuition. Something so open and flexible that it really occurs in all places. Zapatismo poses the questions: "What is it that has excluded me? What is it that has...

Government tricks in Kanehsatake.(Assembly of First Nations)
February 1, 2004... I have had the opportunity to visit with my brothers and sisters in Kanehsatake and would like to share some insight into the current situation. Within the whole of the Mohawk Nation, we have been waiting for such an event. Since the...

Lights, action ... control 'em! Hollywood has shaped the "tough guy" image of the USA and exports this "don't mess with me" persona to the rest of the world as its contribution to the advancement of American jingoism and imperialism.
February 1, 2004... California has the undeserved reputation of being a liberal stronghold, a land of progressive new ideas. In fact, politically it tends toward the conservative. From the venal and criminal to the sloppy and dull-witted, California has given the...

Disturbing the violence.(Chris Arsenault)(Column)
February 1, 2004... These thoughts on the criminalization of dissent are an excerpt from a speech given recently by one of 31 activists arrested on June 15th, 2001 during protests in Halifax against the finance ministers' meeting just prior to the G8 meetings in...

Disposal problems for radioactive waste? Not anymore!(depleted uranium)
February 1, 2004... It has been over a decade since the end of the Cold War but the world still lives under the threat of nuclear weapons. The United States holds about 11,000 nuclear weapons, and Russia has about 19,500. Rarely mentioned in the news, thousands of...

Uranium Mining in Saskatchewan.(CAMECO Corp. and COGEMA)
February 1, 2004... Uranium Mining has become a pillar of economic activity in Northern Saskatchewan. Led by uranium mining giants CAMECO and COGEMA, the uranium industry now directly employs 1318 people on mine sites. CAMECO claims that 50 percent are residents...

You make me sick!(Artist's Voices)
February 1, 2004... "I'll trade you my Malisiti Fuento card for your Spirasta Masta card!" Regina artist Michael Josza envisioned a child's hobby that compares human viruses with consumerism. His collection of trading cards look like any other trading...

Toronto police kidnapped my child.(Ontario Coalition Against Poverty)(Column)
February 1, 2004... During the OCAP housing action on Saturday November 8, Toronto police officers abducted my 2-year-old son, Saoirse. Shortly after the march arrived at 558 Gerrard Street East to open the "Gatekeeper Squat," police attacked my child's mother,...

Monsanto sues ... and sues ... and sues ...(agrihorror)
February 1, 2004... Monsanto and President George Bush have one thing in common. Both have a liking for the "walk softly and carry a big stick" form of public relations. Bush uses his big economic stick to gain the support of various nations in his quest to make...

Prime minister Paul Martin: not exactly model Canadian so far ...
February 1, 2004... 1967--At 29, Martin goes to work as the executive assistant to Maurice Strong, the president of Power Corporation. December 2, 1970--Martin is appointed to the board of directors of Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. (CSL)--a subsidiary of Power...

Wounds: if people could see the carnage of war they'd no doubt take the time to figure our who stands to benefit.
February 1, 2004... The kerosene lamp overhead makes a steady buzzing sound like an incandescent hive of bees. Mud walls. Mud floor. Mud bed. White paper windows. Smell of blood and chloroform. Cold. Three o'clock in the morning, December 1, North China, near Lin...

Bethune: the Secret Police File.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2004... edited and introduced by David Lethbridge Undercurrent Press, 2003. Bag 900, Suite 174 231 Trans-Can Highway NE Salmon Arm, BC V1E 1S3 $24.95 plus $5 for shipping (only available from publisher, $5 discount if you indicate that you saw the...

Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth.(Book Review)
February 1, 2004... by Jim Merkel New Society Publishers, 2003. Gabriola Island, BC In a time when people are looking at energy waste and what can I do, this book brings all the pieces together in a single plan. Jim Merkel, a former weapons engineer, began to...

What I learned at daycare.(My Opinion)(rules we should apply to everyone)
February 1, 2004... The smartest parenting decision my spouse and I ever made was to send our two girls to non-profit group daycare. They started early, they received care vastly superior to what we could have provided at home, and their early experience with...