Briarpatch articles from May 2001

Briarpatch archives from May 2001

Quebec City preparations stomp on constitutional rights.
May 1, 2001... Security measures for this conference of 34 nations working on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) are the most intense in Canada's peace-time history, and may test individual constitutional rights: * Authorities originally wanted...

Citizens attempt search & rescue.
May 1, 2001... Citizens from across the country gathered in Ottawa to undertake a "Search and Rescue" after months of demanding that the government release the Free Trade Area of the Americas draft texts from their secret domain. Clayton Ruby closed the...

Access denied: Canada puts bouncers on the border to try to slow traffic to Quebec City.
May 1, 2001... As the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Quebec City draws near, Canadian officials have begun to tightly monitor the Canadian border in the hopes of heading off the thousands of American activists expected to converge on the city from April...

Cast-the-first-stone picnic: Regina's intact monogamous heterosexual family fun day might not have a huge turn-out.
May 1, 2001... There are words that resound in my mind making Canada a country apart from others. The "Canadian Mosaic" speaks of a willingness of people to embrace diversity, celebrate difference and unite in multiculturalism. Canada is uniquely welcoming to...

Difference (?) a century can make: co-operatives haven't gone out of fashion when it comes to developing a system that makes sense.
May 1, 2001... A lot of progress can happen in 100 years. Each of us has an idea of what it was like a century ago, and mostly we think of the technological advances that have given us easier lives. But sometimes change brings us right back to where we were....

New name: same game: an update on the educational centre that aims to create bullies in the schoolyard (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation).
May 1, 2001... The School of the America has recently been closed and re-opened as The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC) but it retains it popular nickname, the School of Assassins (SOA). If you check their new website you will...

Instant karma: are we internalizing the values and behaviors of corporations without realizing it?
May 1, 2001... The idea of Karma is simple. When you do something positive, you're pushing forth a positive energy that in some way, at some time, will eventually work its way back to you. It's the results-oriented, logical extension of "Do unto others as you...

Campaign against torture: when torture is virtually unthinkable, we will have come as close as humanly possible to abolishing torture from the face of the earth.
May 1, 2001... Torture takes place in secrecy. Torture is carried out in jails and military compounds wherever the torturers think they can get away with it. Torture persists in villages and homes around the world whenever governments turn their backs on the...

Chipping away at privacy: will every detail of your personal life end up some day on easily accessible micro-chips?
May 1, 2001... While moving towards unchecked capitalism in economic policy, the Harris government now moves towards the personal dossiers that some communist governments were known for. Chris Hodgson, Ontario's chair of Management Board, recently told the...

Making our mark: labour acts and heritage in Ontario.
May 1, 2001... Making Our Mark: Labour Arts and Heritage in Ontario Karl Beveridge and Jude Johnston Between the Lines 720 Bathurst Street, Suite #404 Toronto, ON M5S 2R4 1-800-718-7201 If not for the songs, the stories, the poetry, the banners and other...

In the flesh: Roger Waters.
May 1, 2001... Listening to Roger Waters' recent live album, In The Flesh, I started thinking about the shallowness of most current popular music. Many of us who came of age in the 1960s were affected by new left political movements and at the same time...

In the flesh: Roger Waters.
May 1, 2001... In the Flesh Roger Waters Columbia Records, 2000. In the Flesh is a two-disc set drawn from Waters' 2000 tour of the United States. Although Waters' solo tours have not been the big draws that Pink Floyd spectacles are, it is perhaps a good...

What's left of progressive rock?
May 1, 2001... Listening to Roger Waters' recent live album, In The Flesh, I started thinking about the shallowness of most current popular music. Many of us who came of age in the 1960s were affected by new left political movements and at the same time...

My cross-country checkup: across Canada by minivan, through space and time.
May 1, 2001... My Cross-Country Checkup: Across Canada by Minivan Through Space and Time by Walter Stewart Stoddart, 2000, $29.95. Walter Stewart's latest book is a blend of travelogue, humour and consciousness-raising. It was his millennium project. He...

Why protest?
May 1, 2001... Sitting at home in the comfort of your living room, you might wonder why anyone would travel hundreds or thousands of miles to stand out on the street and be herded like cattle by "security forces," which do indeed appear to be a force to be...