Briarpatch articles from July 2004

Briarpatch archives from July 2004

Openers.
July 1, 2004... ART RAFFLE Tickets are still coming in for our very popular Art Raffle fundraiser, so we have extended the draw date until July 30 to make sure we don't miss anyone. If you still have your tickets, please send them in right away. This...

Kabul and Regina.(Brief Article)(Poem)(Illustration)
July 1, 2004... My old house, nestled within the mountains, had a little portion of the daylight. And our inaccurate clock was showing the number of bullets fired every minute. My daughter, who did not know the name of two flowers ...

Songbirds say thanks!(You Said it!)(Pest Management Regulatory Agency de-registers mecoprop)
July 1, 2004... Dear Briarpatch, Well, here we go again! That great federal government protector of human health and the environment, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), has de-registered a dangerous herbicide, mecoprop. That's the good news....

Making life real at the edge of the war: while mining companies, including some from Canada, continue to perpetuate the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, another force rises to counter the effects ... people power.
July 1, 2004... Children joyfully singing songs of and reciting poems of peace; people walking miles from their homes to the city centre to work, or in search of work, but stopping often to greet friends; the dented shell of a car being wheeled on a hand cart...

SLAPP happy zoo masters: Marineland is trying to silence critics with a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP).(Marineland suing Niagara Action for Animals)
July 1, 2004... Do you care about freedom of speech? Are you disturbed by animal suffering? If you answered "yes" to either question, recent events in Niagara Falls should be of concern to you. Marineland, the "theme park" that displays captive marine...

Conservative values according to the Bible.
July 1, 2004... Just before the federal election, campaign literature from the Conservative party that smacked of defiance to Bill C-250 (the recently passed anti-hate legislation) surfaced in Regina. The glossy full colour pamphlet portrayed an assortment of...

If the shoe fits, order it today: can radical anti-advertizing group Adbusters find ways to go toe-to-toe against their mega-corp competition in the promotion of a new shoe designed to kick Nike's ass?
July 1, 2004... "Phil Knight had a dream. He'd sell shoes. He'd sell dreams. He'd get rich. He'd use sweatshops if he had to. Then along came a new shoe. Plain. Simple. Fair. Designed for only one thing: kicking Phil's Ass." This controversial text will...

Occupy--resist--produce: when corporations cut and run, workers are staking a claim.
July 1, 2004... In their new documentary, The Take, Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein go in search of alternatives to some of the problems of globalized capitalism. First stop Argentina. Not too long ago this was a rich, industrial country. Star pupil of the...

Pharming: they're planting the notion that we need drugs, and reaping huge profits.
July 1, 2004... Direct-to-consumer-advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs is illegal in Canada under the Food and Drugs Act. Our law is similar to health protection laws in European countries, Australia and Japan. However, you'd never know it to look at...

Putting women down: the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health has produced a document, manufacturing addiction: The over-prescription of tranquilizers and sleeping pills to women in Canada, highlighting the extent and dangers of abuse of these drugs. The following is an excerpt.
July 1, 2004... The over-prescription of benzodiazepines (tranquilizers) to women in Canada was first identified as a critical health care issue in the 1970s. Yet in the year 2000 alone, there were more than 15.7 million prescriptions filled by Canadian retail...

Gong green in Cuba: another important step in the agricultural revolution.
July 1, 2004... The Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation recently hosted a well attended educational luncheon concerning the Cuban Organic Revolution. Several delegates from Cuba spoke about the history of this revolution and the successes they...

Skeletons speak truth: Guatemalans finally get some answers, after 20 years of wondering and hoping.
July 1, 2004... On the night of May 8, 1981, Carmen Cumez and her husband Felipe Poyon sat down to talk in their kitchen on the outskirts of Comalapa in the Guatemalan highlands. "We don't know what's going to happen," said Felipe, who had received a death...

An Action A Day: Keeps Global Capitalism Away.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... An Action A Day: Keeps Global Capitalism Away by Mike Hudema Between the Lines, Toronto, ON, 2004. www.btlbooks.com. Social change requires feeling uncomfortable. Of course those with vested interests in maintaining the status quo are going...

Dubya speak ...
July 1, 2004... "People say, 'How can I help in the war against terror? How can I fight evil?' You can do so by mentoring a child, by going into a shut-in's house and say 'I love you.'" --a speech given in Washington, DC, September 2002 "Do you have...

Chemical soup.(My Opinion)
July 1, 2004... Mosquito season is here. The little buggers are as annoying as hell, and to many people that's a good enough incentive to throw caution aside and don repellants. But be careful that you don't trade one misery for a bigger one. Our skin...