pic courtesy of SHAGGY ISAAC It was a combination of two striking stories in the Toronto Star today that got me thinking about Red Thread. The first was Maher Arar’s public critique — he asks, if journalists aren’t looking out for the marginalized, who is? The second story was the gut-wrenching reports of gang rape […] More »

It’s not just the feds who are releasing their budget this week. It seems that both coffee dealers and buyers are doing an analysis of their pocketbooks and retro snappy purses, including the infamous Seattle-based Starbucks. Because of overexpansion that caused what is referred to as “cannibalization” (starbucks eating starbucks, or competing with itself) as […] More »

“I know it sounds strange to say, but if we care about the poor, shouldn’t we actually be campaigning for sweatshops?” – New York Times’ Nicholas D. Kristof in Cambodia ENRICO BIANDA WWW.ACTNOW.COM In Kristof’s video, “A Dirty Job: Making the Case for Sweatshops” the former managing editor for The Times is worried that if […] More »

This past Sunday was the a 7th anniversary of the arrival of prisoners to the Guantanamo Bay detention center. It also marked just over one week until President-elect Obama is inaugurated. In his campaign, Obama promised to close Guantanamo within 100 days of gaining office, but the task is looking a little more complicated than […] More »

Looking for an adventurous and educational holiday to beat the winter blues? Why not tour the chaos and misery of the mess Texaco Oil left behind in the Amazon Basin. For the last fifteen years Chevron Corp, which acquired Texaco Oil in 2001, has been in a deadlock legal battle with the citizens of Lago […] More »

Lately, it seems everyone is talking about slumdog millionaire. I haven’t seen it, but I’ve been assured it is the thing to do. Having recently returned from a little overseas adventure of my own, I’ve been thinking a lot about slums. What does it mean to live in a slum? Or a compound, a favela, […] More »

Today in Nepal, voting began for a new constituent assembly that may well chart a radically different course for the Himalayan country. The election comes after more than 10 years of warfare waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The main parties squaring off are the Maoists, the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist […] More »

Two interesting, perhaps ominous developments on the “will they bomb Iran” front: On March 11, Admiral William Fallon resigned as head of the U.S. Central Command. Fallon opposed a military strike on Iran and the word in the halls of power is that his exit may indicate an intention on behalf of Bush and Co. […] More »

The Dalai Lama – I am sooo sick of this guy. Commenting on the recent protests in Tibet, the Dalai Lama criticized the Chinese government for, among other things, the “politicization of religious issues.” Really?! This, coming from a man who is revered as a God-King, who once technically legally owned everything and every person […] More »

To continue with Derek’s theme of Afghanistan this week, here is a statement by Malalai Joya, an Afghan MP currently appealing her suspension from parliament. “After 9/11, unfortunately the United States and its allies like Canada pushed us from the frying pan into the fire,” she states, calling on Canada to act independently from the […] More »

On December 5, 2002, Dilawar, a young Afghan taxi driver, was arrested, handed over to US troops and taken to Bagram Air Force Base for interrogation. 5 days later he was dead. In his five days in that dungeon, he was hooded, chained to the ceiling of his cell, and beaten repeatedly. His legs were […] More »