Briarpatch articles from May 2005

Briarpatch archives from May 2005

City behind bars.(You Said it!)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Dear Briarpatch, A big "thank you" to Peter Collins for his excellent illustrated article Buried Alive, a look at Canada's "correctional facilities" from the inside that appeared in the December 2004/January 2005 issue of Briarpatch....

Beefing about our raise.(You Said it!)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Dear Briarpatch, The dairy farmers in Canada got a raise of 5 cents per litre of milk that we produce. We needed it and have a formula to prove it. I can't believe the complaining that has been going on since. The complaining isn't from...

Cows called barb.(You Said it!)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Dear Briarpatch, I "sold" seven cows in January. They averaged over 1500 pounds per cow and the cheque I got was $1800 and change. And that didn't include trucking. For 22 long months the public has been told that the official BSE...

Wobblies celebrate 100th anniversary.(Special May Day 2005 Celebration)(Industrial Workers of the World)
May 1, 2005... Four representatives from Canada and Quebec attended the founding Congress of the Industrial Workers of the World in Chicago in June, 1905. It's constitution denounced monopoly capitalism and called for organizing workers into one force for...

The real utopia.(Excerpt)
May 1, 2005... The general state of affairs, we are told again and again, every day, by a hundred voices and in a hundred ways, is the only way things can possibly be: all of these massive patterns are beyond human control; you might try to change one or two...

Fight for food supplements: Ocap's fight for food supplements for people on assistance has been such a success they need help to handle it.(Ontario Coalition Against Poverty demand the Special Diet Supplement be released to everyone on welfare and disability)
May 1, 2005... The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and the Ontario Common Front (OCF) organizations are demanding that the government raise the rates for those on social assistance by 40 percent in order to restore the spending power the Tories took...

Legislated poverty and misery: look south to see the future--unless we stop the erosion of our social services.
May 1, 2005... A frequent tactic used by those who don't want to hear opposing points of view is to shout "Conspiracy Theory." They say it is ridiculous to suppose that dozens, hundreds or even thousands of people must have met to plan something as drastic as...

Three moons later: elders in Northern BC defend community against band office's collaboration with mining industry.
May 1, 2005... On January 17, 2005, the Tahltan Band office in Telegraph Creek, in Northern British Columbia was occupied by 35 elders who, as we go to press, maintain a presence there. The elders are concerned about extensive resource development plans for...

Which stakeholder holds the steak?(BSE has created a changed mindset in many farmers)
May 1, 2005... When the BSE crisis had been devastating Canada for about six months, I heard an interview with a British farmer who was sympathizing with an all too familiar plight. He declared that, awful as it was, Canadian farmers would get through it, and...

Louis Desjarlais: sets the record straight on being a young dad.(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Over the last month a few journalism students from the University of Regina worked with a group of young parents at Cochrane High School. In keeping with the principles of true community media, the parents were encouraged to tell their own...

Squashing "victor's justice": the World Tribunal on Iraq collates the global voices denouncing USA aggression.
May 1, 2005... While the Bush regime and its shrinking number of international supporters try to shape the future of Iraq to their liking by force of arms, corporate power and limited democracy, others are working for a very different future. Iraqi...

The nasty side of NAFTA: how the American dream has become humanity's nightmare.
May 1, 2005... We thought we had arrived in hell but we knew it as not, because there are no innocents in hell and this place was full of children. We thought we were prepared to see the devastation of poverty and destruction but we went temporarily insane...

400 pink crosses: daughters, sisters, friends and mothers continue to disappear as a result of NAFTA.
May 1, 2005... Pink crosses mark the landscape in Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. They appear at the side of the road, in the middle of the desert, and in front of large factories. They represent a decade of femicide and over 400 missing women. The communities...

Hey sister, can you spare a ...: there are lessons to be learned from children about sharing.(development efforts or assistance should not be limited to the so-called developing world)
May 1, 2005... On one of many walk through the busy streets of the capital city in Mozambique, I noticed a young girl of no more than eight years. She was walking home from school wearing her tattered uniform and carrying a small black plastic bag. Before we...

The train to Kyoto.(compelling reasons to bring back VIA service to the prairies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Transport 2000 lists compelling reasons to bring back VIA service to the prairies: * Passengers have lost the comfort, convenience and safety of rail travel to Winnipeg, Brandon, Moose Jaw, Regina, Swift Current, Calgary, Banff, Revelstoke...

Have You Thought of Leonard Peltier Lately?(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... Have You Thought of Leonard Peltier Lately? by Harvey Arden compiled and edited by George Bowe Blitch HYT Publishing, 2004. Initially, I considered this a curious title for a book about American Indian Movement (AIM) leader and North...

Future: Tense, the Coming World Order?(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... Future: Tense The Coming World Order? by Gwynne Dyer McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2004. www.mcclelland.com Newfoundland-born Gwynne Dyer is an historian, journalist and broadcaster. Although Dyer's latest book is about the...

The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism by David Lester Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2005. $10.95 (royalties donated to The Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture) www.aarbeiterring.com Charming in its clarity and understated simplicity of style, and...

Enough Already! Breaking Free in the Second Half of Life.(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... Enough Already! Breaking Free in the Second Half of Life by Bruce O'Hara New Star Books, 2004. www.NewStarBooks.com It's time has come! I sense a shift in priorities among my 40- to 60-year-old comrades, even though there is still some...

Expanding the Circle: People Who Care about Ending Racism.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... The booklet is a response to the ongoing denial and minimization that many well-intentioned white people display when they are challenged about racism. Curry-Stevens, a long-time social justice educator in the Toronto area, has created a...

Dubya speak ... (without the speaker in his ear).(George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... "In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you think my standing will be?'" --George W. Bush,...

The myth of the hard worker.(My Opinion)(Aboriginal employment)
May 1, 2005... I've recently learned of yet another Sask Institute of Public Policy event examining the role of welfare and the barriers to getting and retaining employment. I've been informed that this time they also discussed Aboriginal people's tendency to...