Briarpatch articles from November 2000

Briarpatch archives from November 2000

Off the top (overview of current issue of Briarpatch).
November 1, 2000... You'll be pleased with this latest issue of Briarpatch. It's an interesting array of articles on a broad range of topics. Among them is a short piece called "Dirty Laundry," about a group of women around the world who are helping to break the...

Colonel gets a union (Kentucky Fried Chicken in Regina).
November 1, 2000... After 120 employees at six Regina KFC outlets signed union cards with the Hotel Employees, Restaurant Employees Union earlier this year, they still had to get a first collective agreement. So, after negotiations with the company failed, the...

Dirty laundry: the Clothesline Project helps break the silence to end violence against women.
November 1, 2000... It's called the Clothesline Project - T-shirts painted by women and children expressing their messages about violence and the need to end it. The Project was part of the World March of Women activities on September 17 in Winnipeg, which...

Drums of Africa beat for racial tolerance (African immigrant to Saskatchewan encounters racism).
November 1, 2000... In the last week of July this year, the Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism (SCAR) held a week of activist rallies as well as African-based drumming sessions. A rally and information leafleting session at the city limits on the south end...

No ticket to prosperity: Mike Harris and the No Sense Revolution.
November 1, 2000... Some years ago, I was employed by an entrepreneur who felt he could work me through the vacation period every Ontarian deserved by law. There was no union to support my concerns - only the Employment Standards Act of Ontario. Had it not been...

Looking a gift horse in the mouth: Bill Gates' emissaries brought millions of dollars worth of gifts to the people of the Arctic.
November 1, 2000... Why Microsoft's mission failed. The spate of recent negative publicity and court losses suffered by Microsoft and its founder seems to have led to a splurge of cyber-altruism apparently aimed at quickly repairing the founder's reputation....

From Wackenhut to Walkerton: Ontario's plans to privatize prisons.
November 1, 2000... When 14-year-old Sarah Lowe was sentenced a six-month stint in a Texas juvenile detention centre, her parents thought it might turn her life around. The rebellious teenager had become too difficult to deal with, and the institution, run by...

Head-on collision: ... the WTO has ruled that the Japanese have to learn to drive on the other side of the road.
November 1, 2000... A dispute-settlement panel of the World Trade Organization handed down a sweeping judgement in August that Japan's traffic laws constitute a barrier to trade and must be changed. The judgement is considered a major victory for North...

Lest we forget: the role of multinational corporations during World War II.
November 1, 2000... Introduction On this Remembrance Day holiday, people will be asked to remember the sacrifice of men and women who gave their lives in times of war. What is often forgotten are the business interests involved in these conflicts. War is...

Remembering Brian Rohatyn.
November 1, 2000... "At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say, I believe that revolutionaries are guided by great feelings of love." -Che Guevara Brian Rohatyn passed away in his sleep on September 20, 2000 at the age of 33. He will long be...

Viva Cuba (Cuban ambassador to visit Saskatoon).
November 1, 2000... Briarpatch, along with many other groups in Saskatoon and Regina, is co-sponsoring the first trip to Saskatchewan by Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, the Cuban Ambassador to Canada. Born in Havana in 1959, Ambassador Fernandez graduated in...

(Songs by the Raging Grannies about Stockwell Day).
November 1, 2000... What a Friend we have in Stockwell (Sung to the tune of What a Friend we have in Jesus) lyrics by The Raging Grannies What a friend we have in Stockwell He wants everyone's respect Show us how to walk on water With a wet...

Ragged trousered philanthropists.
November 1, 2000... The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell Flamingo Modern Classic edition Harper-Collins. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a disturbing book. It was recommended to me years ago by an Australian friend as a...

Case critical: challenging social services in Canada.
November 1, 2000... Case Critical: Challenging Social Services in Canada (Fourth Edition) by Ben Carniol Between the Lines, Toronto, 2000, $21.95. I have used previous editions of Case Critical as a text in my Politics of Change course, and found it to be a...

Stolen harvest: the hijacking of the global food supply.
November 1, 2000... Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply by Vandana Shiva South End Press, #1-7 Brookline Street, Cambridge MA 02139-4146, USA, 2000. If you read only one book this year, make it this one. Why? Because it's about an issue...

Rogue state: a guide to the world's only superpower.
November 1, 2000... Rogue State: A Guide to the World's only Superpower by William Blum Common Courage Press, Monroe, ME, 2000, US$16.95 (or send US$18 to William Blum, #707-5100 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008-2064 for a post-paid autographed copy). ...

Say what??
November 1, 2000... SPIRIT OF THE TIMES "The reason I am called rightwing today is only because the spirit of our times is leftwing and most of our elites, including the media, are imbued with this spirit. They rarely see enemies on the left. But that's where...

Politics & mental health.
November 1, 2000... Twenty-five years ago or so, I had just finished college in upstate New York and was moving to Canada. The American wars in Southeast Asia had something to do with my decision, but they were not the main reason. A professor friend had...