February 27, 2008
Algonquin leader faces six months in Ontario jail
Bob Lovelace, an ex-chief and negotiator for Ardoch Algonquin First Nations, is facing six months in prison and was fined $25,000 for participating in an ongoing protest over uranium exploration on Algonquin land, in and around Sharbot Lake, Ontario. He was charged with contempt of court. The protest was in response to a license the Ontario government granted Frontenac Ventures, giving them permission... [More >>]
February 24, 2008
North America’s pollution problems, Ottawa’s copyright slip-up, Don’t mess with Texas students
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation has created an amazing map that plots out some of this continent’s environmental hotspots. The map has tons of layers and features and a cartography junkie could spend a lot of time with it. Canada looks pretty healthy, that is if you don’t look at Alberta. Sigh. The Harper government is trying to play hardball with copyright reform, but before... [More >>]
February 22, 2008
New China’s catch-22
For the past twenty years, the Chinese state has been luring foreign capital to their country with the promise of cheap wages, abundant natural resources, good infrastructure, and a massive internal market. The hope is that the flows of foreign cash will spur development that will vault China into developed-country-status by 2050. The problem, as the Chinese government is finding out, is that capital... [More >>]
February 19, 2008
Moving environmentalism forward
Two things that have come through my life recently have me thinking about problems and solutions. The first is an incredibly well-presented online video and website called The Story of Stuff. In it, activist Annie Leonard describes her years-long investigation of the lifetime of consumer goods: where they come from, how they get in our homes and what happens when we trash them. The video is about... [More >>]
February 17, 2008
Oceans in rough shape, schools for social justice, the copyright battle over Harry Potter, looking back at Wired
Scientists have released this map of the world’s oceans and it doesn’t look good. Human activity has left a mark on nearly every square kilometer of sea, severely compromising ecosystems in more than 40% of waters. The Nation has got this great article on how a few alternative schools in the U.S. are working at merging social justice and education. The battle is raging over Harry Potter.... [More >>]
February 13, 2008
12 Years of Revolution in Nepal
Today marks the 12th anniversary of the initiation of the revolution in Nepal. Led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the revolution, called a “People’s War” by its proponents, began with sporadic actions in Nepal’s isolated rural areas in 1996 and now sees the rebels controlling 80% of the country. Mystifyingly ignored by North American media, the revolution in Nepal... [More >>]
February 12, 2008
Segregation or inclusion?
The recent decision by the Toronto District School Board to open Canada’s first black-focused school is being called, by some, a step towards segregation. Though Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty did not use the words himself, he stated that he is disappointed with the board’s decision and that Queen’s Park will not fund Afrocentric schools. His reasoning: a black-focused school is... [More >>]
February 10, 2008
Guerilla tree planting, mocking Ahmadinejad, inadvertantly funny headline and Goo goo ga joob
Before we start this week’s links, a little note. George Murray, editor of Bookninja, a blog I love and check frequently, just wrote to say that some jerk hacked into his blog and did some serious damage. Someone somehow got in to the site, created a new admin account and disabled all our anti-spam software, which allowed the site to be flooded with porn and casino spam…. I am looking... [More >>]
February 6, 2008
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, a recently-released film about the Clash front man who died in 2002, opens with a young and fierce looking Strummer in the recording studio. Headphones on, he starts spitting out the lyrics to White Riot: “An’ everybody’s doing / just what they’re told to / an’ nobody wants / to go to jail! / white riot – I wanna riot! /... [More >>]
February 5, 2008
4th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week
It’s that time of the year again…Israeli Apartheid Week. Born on the campuses of Toronto in 2005, IAW has spread internationally, this year taking place in Palestine, South Africa, the UK, Norway, and in cities across Canada and the U.S. The series of events are being held this week (February 3rd to 11th) in Canada, the U.S, and Palestine, and next week (February 11th to 18th) in South... [More >>]
