Briarpatch articles from May 2008

Briarpatch archives from May 2008

The politics of debt.(Letter from the Editor)
May 1, 2008... "Buy this car to drive to work drive to work to pay for this car." METRIC WHEN THE WORLD IS COMBUSTING all around us, it seems a little petty to devote an entire issue of Briarpatch to questions of debt and personal finance. But in...

Guatemalan politics.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... THANK YOU FOR THIS INSIGHTFUL AND nuanced look at Guatemalan politics (Simon Granovsky-Larsen, "A Dove with Two Right Wings," February 2008). With international media outlets depicting the new Guatemalan government as leftist, it's important to...

Beyond feminism.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... ANOTHER MIND-EXPANDING ISSUE (March/April 2008, Gender & Sexuality). Briarpatch never disappoints. To someone of my age (87), the seriousness with which some of these issues are presented is quite touching. More power to these children. If...

Keep on sticking it to Harper.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... I AM IN THE PROCESS OF REVIEWING the numerous subscriptions I have acquired over the years. At last count I had over 30. Since Briarpatch is one of my newest, and certainly a favourite, I have decided to become a sustaining subscriber. ...

Correction.(Letters to the Editor)(Correction notice)
May 1, 2008... The Tarantino-alluding headline of Asad Ismi's interview with Malalai Joya ("Warlords to the left of me, druglords to the right: Afghan Member of Parliament Malalai Joya is stuck in the middle with Canada," March/April 2008) was not in tended...

Das crapital: a spectre is haunting the suburbs of North America ...
May 1, 2008... IN FIGHTING PLANS FOR A mammoth big box store that would devour the small city I call home, I have made a startling discovery: a dangerous cult has spread from the heart of darkest Arkansas, jumped the border and brainwashed millions of...

Freedom 25: financial independence in the first quarter-century.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ALTHOUGH I WAS RAISED IN THE SUBURBS of Montreal, my life today resembles that of my Mennonite ancestors. In the winter I bathe in a tub of snow (melted and heated first, of course). I live in a one-room house...

Debt cemetery: will the carnage from the U.S. housing and credit crises spread northward?
May 1, 2008... Ah, springtime, 1930. U.S. stock markets had slightly recovered from the "Black Tuesday" crash of the year before. Credit was cheap and the Western world was spending freely. Though people had been spooked, optimism reigned again. Few people...

'Weird money': making friends with the Saugeen Trading Community.(A TALE OF TWO CURRENCIES, PART I)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When I first heard about the Saugeen Trading Community, I was intrigued. I had heard whispers of alternative, community-based currencies in my readings and discussions about community development, but had never had...

Trading favours: Calgary Dollars in action.(A TALE OF TWO CURRENCIES, PART II)(use of community currencies)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] THE CAPITALIST GODS MUST HAVE smiled rapaciously the day the word "volunteer" entered the Western consciousness. What cheaper method could there be of building a society healthy enough to keep consuming without...

Not in my name, not on my dime: conscientious objection to military taxation.
May 1, 2008... "Let them demonstrate, just as long as they continue to pay their taxes." ALEXANDER HAIG If you feel strongly that it is wrong to pay for war and militarism, then you are a conscientious objector to military taxation. If you act on...

Four reasons to get out of debt, nine ways to do it.
May 1, 2008... "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender," PROVERBS 22:7 Reasons to get out: 1. We are a nation of debt slaves "DEBT THROUGHOUT MOST of history has been little more than a slight variation on...

A rising interest in debt: two films appraise the issue's currency.(Movie review)
May 1, 2008... A review of: In Debt We Trust: America Before the Bubble Bursts Directed by Danny Schechter Altacliff Films/Globalvision Productions, 2006. (88 minutes) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Money as Debt Directed by Paul Grignon Moonfire...

A concrete investment plan.(Parting Shots)
May 1, 2008... MY THOUGHTS ON money and investing have been .shaped by my upbringing. I was raised in a 20-person household in northern Ghana. Six of us shared a small hut, beautifully roofed with thatch. 1-he rest of my relatives lived in adjacent huts. We...

Tiny beginnings.(Luz: Girl of The Knowing)(Cartoon)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Okay, I've got some potting soil, clean empty containers... ... and organic seeds so they don't go suicidal on me like GMOs would. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I had fun saving eggshells all winter so I can...