Briarpatch articles from February 2007

Briarpatch archives from February 2007

The spectre of scarcity.(Letter from the Editor)(Editorial)
February 1, 2007... I'VE BEEN TRYING LATELY TO FIND A HEALTHY balance between optimism and pessimism, hope and despair. Surveying the accumulating evidence of outof-control climate change, pending oil and gas production peaks, collapsing ecosystems, and the...

Unpacking the travel issue.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... I had to write to tell you that I could not put this issue [November 2006] down. I am a semi-retired, jack-of-all-trades farmer and considered the volunteering-in-the-"Majority-World" idea. These articles have confirmed for me, however,...

Take off, eh?(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... I find nothing in this [travel] issue outside the backward, feudal, mainstream Canadian mindset that accepts the disparity of poverty and privilege here in Canada. If you can't absorb any lessons or wisdom from a lifetime sharing your living...

The "sic" squad.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... The November 2006 "Politics of Tourism" issue was illuminating. However, the main message, that we should have respect for cultures different from our own, was not extended backwards to Hugo of St. Victor, the twelfth-century monk. When he...

Thanks for making me bristle.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... I am a relatively new subscriber to the magazine, and though I have now received four issues, it is only in the last few days that I have begun to read them. The reason I am such a laggard is that I have been preoccupied with publication, an...

The raised fist of poetry.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... Thank you for being persistent in reminding me to renew my subscription to your progressive magazine. I do enjoy the articles and have noticed an increase of poetry. Behold the raised fist of poetry! Warning for neo-liberals: poetry can be...

Dear bedfellow ...: an open letter to New Democrats, Greens, and progressive Liberals.
February 1, 2007... MUCH OF WHAT I am about to say would be unnecessary if Canada had a system of proportional representation like most countries claiming to be democracies, a proportional representation system would ensure that the percentage of seats allocated...

The gas beneath their feet: coal bed methane and community resistance in BC.
February 1, 2007... THE PICTURESQUE BULKLEY VALLEY, nestled in northwestern British Columbia presents an idyllic image of rural life. In these lands, the Wet'suwet'en First Nation maintain their livelihoods and governance on their traditional territory, while...

The green devolution: food, energy, and the fate of industrial agriculture.
February 1, 2007... Energy and agriculture are intimately linked. A calorie, remember, is a measure of energy. Food itself is energy. To truly understand the trends that will shape the future of agriculture, we need to understand our relationship with energy. In...

Peak food: the growing challenge of feeding civilization.
February 1, 2007... We are now consistently consuming more food than we produce. The implications of this fact will shake the industrial food system to its very roots. HUMANITY IS IN THE FASTEST, most sustained food supply drawdown in the 46-year period for...

Who's cooking the food system? Globalization & the struggle for food sovereignty.
February 1, 2007... "To parallel our universal political rights, we have not yet established universal economic rights, such as the right to life-sustaining resources or the right to participate in economic decision-making." THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF Human...

12 Ways to fight for local food security.(excerpt from Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture)(Excerpt)
February 1, 2007... Here follows a short list of activities that concerned citizens might engage in to strengthen local food security and help to prepare their community for a sustainable future. 1 Community Vegetable Gardens Lobby your communities and...

Burden of proof: how citizens' questions shut down uranium enrichment in Port Hope.(Interview)
February 1, 2007... Port Hope, Ontario, has long been at the nucleus of uranium refining in Canada. In 2003, Cameco, the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, proposed an expansion of its existing uranium refinery to begin producing enriched uranium--a...

The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism, and Economic Collapse.
February 1, 2007... The Oil Depletion Protocol A Plan to Avert oil wars, terrorism, and economic collapse Richard Heinberg New Society, 2006 RICHARD HEINBERG'S latest book, The Oil Depletion Protocol, is a beacon of hope that humankind may yet be able to wean...

Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.(Book review)
February 1, 2007... Plan B 2.0 Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization In Trouble Lester R. Brown Norton, 2006 IN 2006, NO LESS THAN FIVE wellpromoted books on world survival in a time of global warming were published: Field Notes from a Catastrophe,...

Enough Blood Shed: 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror and War.
February 1, 2007... Enough Blood Shed 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror and War Mary-Wynne Ashford with Guy Dauncey New Society, 2006 Enough BloodShed: 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror and War is both a feel-good book and a resource manual for peace and...

Enough of the greenwash! Nuclear power is not the answer.(Parting Shots)
February 1, 2007... THERE IS A DANGEROUS myth being circulated that nuclear power is the "green" solution to our energy and climate change woes. US President George W. Bush, for example, declared when visiting the Pennsylvania (US) Limerick nuclear power plant on...

Freedom and property.(QUOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND)(Quotation)
February 1, 2007... "The tenant pondered. 'Funny how it is. If a man owns a little property, that property is him, it's part of him, and it's like him. If he owns property only so he can walk on it and handle it and be sad when it isn't doing well, and feel fine...

Canadian senate: beware the poor!(QUOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND)(Quotation)
February 1, 2007... "With the fall of the Soviet Union--historically the world's most powerful communist state--and with the decline of communism as an economic philosophy in China, it has been all but assumed that the poor of this century lack the institutional...