Bangladesh Garment Workers Protest

Slide show, at the Guardian Newspaper, of garment workers in Bangladesh being beaten by police with batons (these are disturbing images) after/while protesting wages and working conditions. I'll be checking my clothes to make sure that they aren't made in Bangladesh! Though it is a tough call as the children are likely working so that they don't starve although the wages are very low and the working conditions very bad. . . So maybe my "boycott" would just hurt the children - they need organized, but even then the state can be repressive. . . any suggestions? Other than funding NGO's, how do we help make sure that we are not contributing to the exploitation of workers (esp children) in Bangladesh?

Click on pic below for link to the slide show on the Guardian site.

Wishing for peace, seeing war, war prep and a Monarch

I turned on the "The National" on CBC last night and was rather shocked by the orgy of war that I saw there. I knew that the Queen was here. I knew that there was a sailpast/review and I knew that 5,000 sailors and 28 ships including plenty of "foreign vessels" were in or coming to Halifax Harbour.

But, following the abuse of police powers (The police chief even lied to the press and so far has not been fired, which I find incredible) on the weekend, in Toronto, the view of 28 large "warships" passing ion the harbour was almost more than I could bear.

I felt like I had fallen into some militarized future - and then I realized that the future is now, and the future is here - and I am feeling unsure what to do to make the world more peaceful. . .

Even the language is not tolerable - "an Armada of Warships" According to the National Post:

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip received a royal salute Tuesday as they boarded the frigate HMCS St. John’s in Halifax harbour to review the large armada of warships assembled to mark the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy.

Seventeen foreign warships — including the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and the American carrier USS Wasp — arrived here last week to join the Canadian navy in celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The city’s waterfront bristled with modern warships and is filled with sailors from Canada, the U.S., Britain, France, Denmark, Germany, Holland and Brazil.

Armada, warships and all this with a sense of celebration? Yes I know that it was a "birthday" party for the Canadian Navy - a centennial to celebrate but shouldn't this rather be a day of mourning? 100 years since we started a navy and too bad we still need one. . . that would strike the right tone. . . I felt like "in my day" - that this could not have happened but it probably did - I just feel like at least 25 years ago it would have been controversial. Why is it not? What are the ships for? (OK for the Canadian Navy - their latest mission was to help in Haiti - but that is not their main purpose these days) They are to hurt people aren't they? That is their intent - to kill, drown, maim, whatever - I just cannot see it as any different from cheering on the villain in a slasher horror movie.

Now not only did we have the centennial of a military force and celebrate it - but it was done with a royal review - really. . . a Queen? I don't have strong feelings about the Monarchy usually - as I understand it, it costs us nothing to have her as titular head of state (until she visits, I assume as our guest) so it is "weird" but who cares. . . but when one reads the Star. . .

From the Toronto Star:

No one does pageantry better than the British Royal Family, of course, but even by their standards, this was a spectacle unlike any other.

Not only did it fill Halifax Harbour, it took over Bedford Basin with a gathering of 20-odd warships from around the world. Frigates and tenders, aircraft carriers and corvettes, they waited patiently for the Queen to sail past and then gave her three rousing cheers.

Her Majesty, aboard HMCS St. John’s, stood in her viewing box as she passed each ship, an improbably tiny figure to be at the centre of such a vast undertaking. Even those normally immune to the appeal of military ritual could not help but be impressed by the sheer scale of the two-hour event.

Ships from Canada, Great Britain, France, Norway, Brazil, Germany, Holland, Denmark and the U.S. assembled for the occasion. With their crews lined up, in full dress uniform, all flags flying, they were an impressive sight. Even HMCS Cornerbrook, one of the ill-fated submarines Canada bought from the U.K. several years ago, managed to muster a degree of dignity on this memorable afternoon.

So, I am shocked at the orgasmic response of Canadian Media. . . and so far Dominion, Media Co-op, Rabble, etc have nothing - maybe it will just be ignored.

I do not regularly watch TV news anymore as the coverage and analysis is so bad - I used to be able to get some satisfaction from the CBC but they seem to have made a hard right turn (to keep their funding? If they want them gone no right wing news coverage will save them) and one has the feeling that Peter Mansbridge revels in it. (Senate appointment coming his way at retirement?)

Just another day of wishing the world could be different. Wishing we could be celebrating and mourning a very different set of activities and incidents.

And on a lighter note - thanks to Tony Tracey for sharing this link.

G20, protests and policing

I was trying to resist writing about the G20 and Toronto because, really, I thought everyone would be reading about it - and I am not even there - so what can I add? Then I realized that a lot of people may be only watching the "mainstream" TV news - although even there, there has been plenty of criticism about the abuse of police powers, illegal arrests and lengthy detentions. So I thought I would post a few of the most interesting pieces I have reviewed. A lot of the "interesting" material is video, for which I apologize, as I prefer to read myself - but interviews have resulted in some interesting views and descriptions that do not appear in print.

So - "security" and "policing" in Toronto around the G20 - on with the show! I am today rather embarrassed for Canada and especially for Toronto although they had little to do with it - even the mayor asked that it be held elsewhere, which brings me briefly to. . . why is the Tyee dissing Torontonians and the Mayor - and suggesting that they invited the G20 - they didn't want it held there? See what I mean at: The Tyee.

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This Real News interview with Paul Cavalluzzo, about the Ontario Public Works Act that removes probable cause & right to free and peaceful assembly, is frightening. Near martial law set up by regs that are likely unconstitutional - not only resulting in police power to demand ID and to search without warrants, but the act (or regs I wasn't paying close enough attention) also suggests that if there is any evidence given by a "guard" (cop) under this act, then you have to prove that you are innocent - kind of removes all of our supposed rights to be innocent until proven guilty - but you can watch to get all the detail . . .



EEK! Now it turns out there was no 5 metre outside the fence rule - it was all made up by the Chief of Police - see the Globe and Mail Story. In addition the police were displaying weapons that that they said were taken from arrested protesters but even the Globe and mail caught them out - as the story says in part:

The items, which were laid out on several tables in the lobby of Toronto Police headquarters, include gas masks, cans of spray paint, a replica gun, crowbars, saws, pocket knives, a staple gun, a drill, a baseball bat, a slingshot, chains, bear spray, dog repellent, handcuffs and bows and arrows. Some of the arrows had their pointy ends covered with fabric, which officers said were designed to be dipped in a flammable liquid and lit ablaze.

However, the “weapons” included items not normally considered dangerous, including skateboard and bicycle helmets, bandannas, golf balls, tennis balls, bamboo poles, goggles, rope, plastic tubes and walkie talkies. The police also laid out several notebooks and shields depicting red clenched fists, a resistance symbol.

In addition, some of the items presented to the media were not seized by protesters. A car search last Friday netted a cross bow and chain saw but they were not determined to be G20 related, and no charges were laid. When this was pointed out, Chief Blair acknowledged the items should not have been displayed but said “everything else” was seized from summit protesters.

However, police also included objects taken from a Whitby, Ont., man who was heading to a role playing fantasy game in Centennial Park Saturday morning. As was reported by the Globe on Saturday, Brian Barrett, 25, was stopped at Union Station for wearing chain mail and carrying a bag with an archery bow, shield and graphite swords. His jousting gear was seized by police, but was on display Tuesday, even though he was not charged and police told a Globe reporter it was a case of bad timing.

I am not sure, but I think that once the Chief of Police has lied twice to the press he should be asked to resign - and if the police did not have the right to detain people, ask for ID without probable cause, and search without a warrant or probable cause, I am not sure how any of these charges are going to stand up - except for people who are clearly identified on video tape smashing property of some sort.

On July 10th this linked article appeared in the Star, so maybe, just maybe (I am not yet forgiving) Blair didn't lie and wasn't even in charge. . . but I don;t trust the TO police or the Star yet.
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Another telling (and interesting video) is with Steve Paiken - a "mainstream" news reporter and host of The Agenda on TVO. You can also read a transcript on this page.

http://www.therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5328&updaterx=2010-06-29+09%3A40%3A49

According to Paiken, the cops arrested people rather indiscriminately and rushed peaceful protesters as well as beating up a stringer for the Guardian.

On July 1st The Ottawa Citizen published this column by Steve Paiken in which he says in part:

I have lived in Toronto for more than three decades. I have covered my share of demonstrations. We have a wonderful history of peaceful democratic protest in this city. But at the incident I found myself in on Saturday night, democracy took a major step backwards. And many will have to answer for that.

Steve Paikin is anchor and senior editor for The Agenda With Steve Paikin on TVO.

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I thought that The Star editorials (largest circulation newspaper in Canada and not at all a "radical" paper) were pretty telling - civil society is not happy about arresting over 900 people, holding may for 9-24 hours and then letting them go "without charge" and even the ones who are charged are not likely to be convicted (although I guess some might - we will have to wait and see)

You can see them at:

Today's editorial - Mass Arrests Not Justified -

Yesterday's by the Star's publisher. . . John Cruikshank - G20 editorial: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people

Other opinion pieces with info about the actual ISSUES that the "protests" were about, in the Star, include:

Thousands Stood Up for Humanity by Sid Ryan, and Linda McQuaig's Police and Bankers Exempt from Austerity.

Also now you can see Naomi Klein's take on the wrap up of the G20 and what they "accomplished" - in the Guardian June 29th

My city feels like a crime scene, and the criminals are all melting into the night, fleeing the scene. No, I'm not talking about the kids in black who smashed windows and burned cop cars on Saturday.

I'm talking about the heads of state who, on Sunday night, smashed social safety nets and burned good jobs in the middle of a recession. Faced with the effects of a crisis created by the world's wealthiest and most privileged strata, they decided to stick the poorest and most vulnerable people in their countries with the bill.

How else can we interpret the G20's final communique, which includes not even a measly tax on banks or financial transactions, yet instructs governments to slash their deficits in half by 2013. This is a huge and shocking cut, and we should be very clear who will pay the price: students who will see their public educations further deteriorate as their fees go up; pensioners who will lose hard-earned benefits; public sector workers whose jobs will be eliminated. And the list goes on. These types of cuts have already begun in many G20 countries, and they are about to get a lot worse. For instance, reducing the projected 2010 deficit in the US by half, in the absence of a sizeable tax increase, would mean a whopping $780bn cut.

The cuts are happening for a simple reason. When the G20 met in London in 2009, at the height of the financial crisis, the leaders failed to band together to regulate the financial sector so that this type of crisis would never happen again. All we got was empty rhetoric, and an agreement to put trillions of dollars in public monies on the table to shore up banks around the world.

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There is too much on Rabble.ca or the Dominion, to pick stories but there is plenty on both websites.

www.rabble.ca especially for analysis and opinion and (The Dominion) Toronto Media Coop - for news from those on the front lines.

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There are now reports on the police actions at the Summit, by
1) Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Titled : A Preliminary Report of Observations during the G20 Summit
2) and from Amnesty International -Toronto and the G8/G20: Peaceful protest suffers amidst heavy security measures and acts of vandalism

Both reports suggest that the police actions were not appropriate, CCLA says:

It is the opinion of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association that police conduct during the G20 Summit was, at times, disproportionate, arbitrary and excessive. In our view, despite instances of commendable and professional conduct, the policing and security efforts, especially after 5PM on June 26 and June 27, failed to demonstrate commitment to Canada’s constitutional values.

And Amnesty says:

Lessons must be learned from these events. We call on the Canadian government and the government of the province of Ontario to cooperate in launching an independent review of the security measures that were put in place for the G8 and G20 Summits. The review should include opportunities for public input and the results should be released to the public. Among other issues, the review should consider:

•The impact of security measures, including decisions about the location and venues for the two summits, on the protection of human rights, including the freedoms of expression and assembly.

• The ways in which police operations and the use of legal provisions such as the Public Works Protection Act have impacted the rights of the many thousands of people living, working and operating businesses within and near the G20 security zone.

And from the Toronto Star: Calls for G20 Inquiry Ratchet Up.

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Individual reports of illegal arrests and detention. . .
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/story-my-arrest-detainment/3997

and
http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=397205503638&id=511491565&ref=mf

and this story in the Star of a TTC worker detained and imprisoned on his way to work - even after the supervisor vouched for him - that he was a TTC worker on his way to work.

An individual just plucked off the street in Toronto on Sunday morning - because "he had a a bandanna" http://danielfrancavilla.tumblr.com/post/764540391/abusing-the-peaceful-a-fellow-toronto-design

Man with prosethesis arrested at Queens Park by police who dragged him, took his leg and glasses etc.
http://niagaraatlarge.com/2010/07/05/thorold-ontario-amputee-has-his-artificial-leg-ripped-off-by-police-and-is-slammed-in-makeshift-cell-during-g20-summit-–-at-least-one-ontario-mpp-calls-the-whole-episode-“shocking/

Bubble blower arrested: http://www.acreativerevolution.ca/node/2480
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Also as of July 1st comes this story . . . Canadian Civil Liberties Association planning joint lawsuit for those illegally arrested and detained (and assaulted!)

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/830747--joint-lawsuit-planned-for-g20-arrestees#article

No one is getting a fair day in court. As of July 14th there are still those who have not yet had a bail hearing - adding to t6htis is the strange ways in which courts and bail hearings are being conducted - here's one example:
http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/808295

A Rabbi defends Gaza, Libby Davies and Human Rights

I was so excited to read this open letter to Jack Layton defending Libby Davies. You can see the whole post at: http://rebdavid.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html#3002382674389795855

Here's part of the letter to Jack Layton from Rabbi David Mivasair, that is posted on his blog.


Libby said that she thinks the Israeli occupation began in 1948. Well, it did. I can introduce you to Palestinians living here in Vancouver who were forced out of their homes at gunpoint by Jews in 1948 and their villages destroyed. That’s occupation. It happened. Denying it doesn’t change a thing.

Just look at this map on the left here of the 1947 UN partition plan. The UN assigned the orange parts to the Jews' control and the pink parts to the Arabs. Now, look at a 1948 map of the ceasefire lines. The purple is what Israel held and eventually became its more-or-less acknowledged boundaries until 1967.

Even well before 1948, Jewish organizations launched a well-planned and well-executed campaign to establish “facts on the ground” by planting 57 settlements literally in the middle of the night all over the country. This was especially true in the southern Negev desert region so that the UN would grant that area to the Jewish state-to-be. Even though there was negligible and recently imported Jewish population amidst a far larger and very well-established Arab population (in that large orange area in the south), the UN partition granted it to the Jews and not the Arabs. This is a source of great pride in Israel, well-known to every school child and celebrated in museums. To know more, see "Tower and Stockade", tourist attraction and commemorative coin.

To imply that Libby doesn’t support the existence of the State of Israel is nothing but disingenuous manipulation. You know that’s not true; Libby does support the existence of the State of Israel. It is Israel’s behaviour that Libby condemns – and rightfully so.

Naxalites, Maoists, India

Due to an article in Tehelka, an Indian investigative journalism magazine, I am thinking again about "the Maoists" or "Naxalites" in India.

In the interior of India there are people called the Adivasi or "tribal" people - these are people that are thought of much like we think of our indigenous people in Canada - those people "over there" - not Hindi, Muslim, Christian or Buddhist - they are outsiders and because they traditionally held their land in common they are not -"owners of the land". As a result the government sees the land (or at least has too often treated it that way) as unoccupied or at least unowned and gives mineral, mining and damning rights to multi-national corporations which flood or destroy the land of the Adivsai. Since the 1940's the Maoists have been the only ones helping and defending the Adivasi people. So as Roy (see next para) put it, 90% of the Maoists are Adivasi but not all the Adivasi are Maoists.

A while ago, I was quite compelled by Arundhuti Roy's article in Outlook that defended the Maoists and their violence, see here, because they are defending those without rights or privilege in India and the movement is growing especially among the "tribal people". Several articles have been published lately that were very sympathetic to the Maoists or Naxalites as they are known in India.

Their previous violence has targeted police, military, paramilitary and corporations. There has been some (but little) collateral damage - killed civilians (and always because they were unluckily traveling on the same bus or train as lots of military or police.) Now, suddenly a few weeks ago, a civilian train travelling from Kolkata to Delhi is blown up, or the track was sabotaged, it seems to be still a little unclear - but it was clear that two months ago, a bus load of police and security police wanna-be's was attacked and there were "civilian casualties" - although the bulk of deaths were police - and everyone is blaming the Maoists who have apparently only slaughtered (relatively) innocent civilians - what's the dealio?

Another article in Outlook here.
and here, questioning whether it was in fact, the Maoists.
Another story here from Al Jazeera
And lastly in the Guardian - UK supporting the struggle for the landless even if not the Naxalite methods. . .

But they have not got control over all of the forces that are calling themselves "Maoists." In this article from Tehelka they suggest that the Naxals and the Green Hunt (paramilitary force set up by the government to hunt Naxals - Judum ) are both torturing and killing people, including raping women, and executing people for being anti-naxal informers, or for supporting "the other side" . . . This sounds reminiscent of stories from Vietnam - but most people just want to return to their villages and improve their lives. . .. As the Tehelka article puts it:

It has been five years since the Judum was formed, but there is no rehabilitation policy for displaced villagers. TEHELKA visited four ‘relief’ camps and found that almost 100 percent of the Adivasis want to return to their villages. Manni Paro pays a Judum leader Rs 200 a month to keep her mud hut and tarpaulin sheets. Those who cannot afford the bribe moved further into the more cramped sections of the camp.

“We were much happier in our villages. The Naxals didn’t bother us before the Judum started. We got fish from the lakes and reared our chicken. Everything was cheap,” says Madkam Sita, from Konta camp. “Here, there is nothing to do and not enough to feed my three children.”

In what is perhaps an attempt to corroborate the government’s claim that it is giving the Judum no official support, the supply of free ration to the camps was stopped three months ago. Korsa Sanmu, Sarpanch of Silger and Judum leader, met the CM for answers. “We can’t feed you forever. You have to stand on your own feet. The supplies had to end at some point,” he says the CM told him.

The desperation has triggered a new trend. Most Dornapal camp villagers now trek upto 20 km to cultivate their fields, always fearfully. Some have received notices from the Naxals: “Come back home. We will not harm you.” But the past records are ugly, and there is a trust deficit in Dantewada.

For those whose homes are deeper in the jungle, even such daily trips are impossible. Mangal Dai from Aserguda village now toils under the NREGS, but yearns for his five-acre plot. “If I go back, the Naxals will kill me for being part of the Judum, and the Judum will kill me for helping the Naxals,” he says. “We’re being hounded at both ends.”

More trouble for women - I do hope that things improve. . .

Columbian election corruption

So from the Associated Press (as published by the Chronicle Herald) - comes this story about the winner of the Columbian election. . .

BOGOTA, Colombia — A 58-year-old U.S.-educated economist who dealt withering blows to leftist rebels as defence minister has won Colombia's presidency by the largest margin in modern history.

Juan Manuel Santos got 69 per cent of the vote in Sunday's runoff in a ringing endorsement of his promise to continue the U.S.-backed security policies of outgoing conservative President Alvaro Uribe that he helped craft.

Just one problem that seems to go unmentioned in this article from the Huffington Post. . .

But documents obtained from Colombia's Camera de Comercio - the private national Chamber of Commerce - raise questions about a possible conflict of interest and show that he may not be so committed to transparency as it seems. The documents listing the board's membership made clear that he sat for several years on the board of directors of a securities firm that manages election logistics- from printing voting cards to transporting stuffed ballot boxes - while at the same time heading Uribe's "U" political party.

Santos' campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Some Colombians contacted for this story are troubled by Santos' mix of the elections business and politics. "None of the candidates who are vying for the presidency should have had relationships with a company carrying out elections," said Alejandra Barrios, director of the Electoral Observation Mission, a watchdog agency. "This kind of relationship should have been disclosed for the sake of transparency."

So the winner "by a landslide" of the Columbian Presidential elections is on the board of directors of the company that makes the election systems? hm m m .. . what's wrong with this picture.

Also, Canada has just signed free trade agreement with a country that kills and jails union activists, people who work for civil and human rights, or who are political opponents.

On June 21st, for example, at least 32 miners were killed in Columbia with the Associated Press reporting, that at least 40 miners were still underground, and that "The exact cause of the explosion is unknown, but the mine's records indicate it lacked a methane ventilation pipe and gas-detection devices."

There is just no way that we should be helping our corporations do more work in Colombia -- According to the Council of Canadians. . .

Despite widespread public demands to put human rights before corporate interests in Colombia, on June 14 Liberal and Conservative MPs voted ‘yes’ to the third and final vote on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (Bill C-2). This agreement has been stalled for over a year because of a persistent human rights crisis in Colombia that continues to see labour leaders assassinated and rights activists threatened with murder. A human rights side agreement to the FTA, proposed by the Liberals and tabled on May 31st in the House of Commons, is wholly inadequate. Human rights and trade justice advocates continue to call for an independent human rights impact assessment to be carried out before the free trade deal is ratified. But on June 1, Liberal and Conservative members of the committee abruptly shut down debate on C-2 without hearing from a list of witnesses who could have spoken to the deal and its human rights side agreement. It is the responsibility now of the Senate to hear from those witnesses and to put rights before trade.

Sunday Musings. . .

From a film review of a film called Winter's Bone , this morning, by Dorothy Woodsend, from The Tyee.

Registered Democrats and Republicans, although ostensibly on opposite sides of the political fence, share many characteristics. It is the third group of unregistered and disenfranchised voters that are very different.

This third group is the largest and continuing to grow quickly.

Writes Adams: "According to our data, the values showing the most pronounced growth in the United States from 1992 to 2004 fell into three categories: risk-taking and thrill-seeking, Darwinism and exclusion, and consumption and status-seeking... The values of the average American also reveal a growing resignation to life in a world of dog-eat-dog competition: Americans increasingly register a Darwinist attitude toward both economic and social life, becoming more likely to reason that those who suffer misfortune in life deserve what they get and that others shouldn't worry too much about helping them."

From the abandoned ruins

It will be interesting or maybe terrifying to see what happens when this population outstrips the remaining two. Or maybe it's already in the process of happening, according to James Kunstler who has been patiently waiting for the imminent collapse of American society and writing furiously the entire time. "Our popular culture would embarrass a race of hebephrenics. We think that neck tattoos are cool. A lot of our pop music is overtly homicidal. Our richest citizens have managed to define a new banality of evil. Our middle classes are subject to humiliations so baroque that sadomasochism even fails to encompass the finer points... we're digging our national grave with a kind of antic glee, complete with all the lurid stagecraft that Las Vegas, Hollywood, and Madison Avenue can muster."

What type of films will emerge out of the ruins? Maybe no films at all, just UFC fighting, meth and porn. In the meantime, films such as Winter's Bone give us a glimpse into the chasm of class and economic difference in America. It's a pretty cold and harsh place, it would seem.

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The same Tyee also has a great post called Ideal Summer Reads and really I am posting it here so that I can come back to it, myself. Certainly west coast focused, ut a number of books sound fabulous. Appealing particularly to me :

C'Mon Papa: Dispatches from a Dad in the Dark by Ryan Knighton (Knopf Canada)

Bringing home a baby is an exciting and daunting experience for any new parent -- now imagine if you literally couldn't see the kid for whom you are responsible. Knighton started losing his sight when he was 18, and by the time he and his wife had their daughter Tess, he was almost completely blind. His memoir of those first years -- of trying to avoid poles on a busy street with a three-month-old strapped to his chest, of panicked moments, uncertain if his toddler was missing or asleep -- is funny, poignant, and illuminating.

When I was a midwifery student I was involved in the care of a blind couple, having their second baby. It was rather nerve wracking, and, particularly with small children, it seemed like it was going to take a lot of help for them to parent. You know, you cannot clean up the shit if you cannot see it. They were smart people, and loving and capable parents, and I think that the children, both sighted, were going to be looked after - but I have often thought of them over the years . . . You would need assistance to take your kids to the park, and the frustration of a toddler in your apartment refusing to answer you (they would quickly figure out that you could not see - and likely use it against you! I am a sucker for little kids - so they manipulate me, with apparently, no ill will. ) So I am looking forward tio reading about a parent in similar circumstances!
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Body Image perceptions - How the brain deals you a poor hand . . . .

From New Scientist - everyone sees their hand as bigger than it is. . . and the info that this might provide for others studying body image distortions -


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Controversial Pesticide Worries Scientists

by Amy Standen from the NPR website.

I only buy organic or local strawberries, but this story about the non-organic California Strawberries is worrying. They are using a new pesticide (since the old one, methyl bromide, hurts the ozone layer!) but the new one -methyl iodide - is considered toxic at much lower doses and is a huge problem especially for farm workers - so although if you only eat them once or twice a year the cheap ($5.99 for a kilo) California strawberries could be hurting workers who are exposed to large volumes. Demand that they use a different method and don't buy the berries from California. (not to mention the carbon, but I cannot throw too many stones as I do buy organic California strawberries occasionally.)

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NDP and Gaza

I am terribly appalled at the attacks on Libby Davies. Clearly she was bushwacked, and if you watch the video (I think a lot of people who are criticizing are just reacting to press reports) she was doing her best to stick with party politics and policies, but was clear that her own opinions were a little different - I have written to Jack, Tom Mulcair and more. . . defending her - I think she is the greatest. . . and her openness and willingness to engage and talk to people is what is getting her into difficulty. She is being vilified for exactly what she she should be lauded for. . . Defending Libby Davies, Interestingly she has been particularly lambasted by the Liberals who suggest she should resign over calling Palestine "occupied", supporting the BDS movement and talking about "apartheid" in Israel. What's funny about that is here is a Guardian article from 2002 in which Ignatieff syas of his flight over the West bank:

I knew I was not looking down at a state or the beginnings of one, but at a Bantustan, one of those pseudo-states created in the dying years of apartheid to keep the African population under control.

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And just after we signed a free trade agreement with Columbia:

More than 70 Colombian miners were feared dead on Thursday after they were trapped by an explosion that ripped through a coal mine in what could become one of the Andean country's worst mining disasters.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Dozens+feared+dead+mine+blast/3169630/story.html#ixzz0rIAtzqOH

Not to mention this little gem from Columbia, from an article in the huffpo:

BOGOTÁ, Colombia - The man most likely to become Colombia's next president this Sunday has played a previously undisclosed role as a corporate officer of the company hired to run the nation's elections over the last decade, while he was a political leader, business records obtained by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund show.

The role of Juan Manuel Santos - a former defense minister in the government of current president Alvaro Uribe and a scion of one of the nation's most powerful families - is not widely known in the South American country, where his family controls some of the leading news organizations and there are reports of voting irregularities.

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And a study about preventing stroke with some interesting finds:

When it came to food groups, fish and fruits — components of a Mediterranean diet — appeared to have the most striking protective effect against stroke, but not vegetables.

Increased consumption of red meat, organ meats, eggs, fried foods, pizza or salty snacks, and cooking with lard were all associated with an increased risk of stroke.

The risk of stroke also increased the higher the person's waist-to-hip ratio, while regular physical activity — defined as four hours or more per week of moderate (such as walking, cycling or gardening) or strenuous (jogging, vigorous swimming) exercise — lowered the risk of all strokes by 30 per cent.

So I guess I'd better up my fruit consumption!
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Hypertension+tops+list+stroke+risk+factors/3169829/story.html#ixzz0rC6dzyEB

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And happy news n the Swat Valley in Pakistan
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127909459&ft=1&f=1001

No longer banished from public view by the Taliban's strict social code, women are weaving new lives — literally, in some cases.

With the help of the Karachi-based Heritage Foundation, widows and single mothers are learning to master looms and earn a living for the first time. With help from UNESCO, the program is offering females — from teenage girls to women in their 70s — the chance to learn the cherished art of Swati embroidery and make a livelihood.

The article goes on to talk about teeming markets, and girls on the streets with heavy book bags - I was skeptical - maybe this is some kind of Pakistani propaganda (or U.S.) - "we drove the taliban out. . . " - so I checked and found many other stories about the same change - everyone is going back to Swat. . .

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan/notes-from-taliban-heartland-part-2-1.641437
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8729099.stm
http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=106435&Itemid=2


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Oh. . . come on. . .

The environmental showpiece of the G8 summit has lost some of its lustre.

World leaders will bask in the glow of only five solar-powered street lights instead of the planned 15 when they arrive in Ontario's cottage country later this month.

The solar lamps are the G8 summit's "signature environmental project." They were supposed to line the pathways of a resort near Huntsville, Ont., during the leaders' one-night stay.

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And just in case you were rushing off to have some untested stem cell treatment -- keep in mind: (and beware bogus stem cell research)

The death of a woman after she was treated with stem cells at a private clinic in Thailand has reinforced warnings for desperate sick people to avoid "stem-cell tourism" – the gamble of undergoing untested stem-cell treatments in unlicensed private clinics abroad.

Post-mortem results reported this week reveal that the stem-cell treatment almost certainly killed the woman, who had been suffering from kidney disease. She developed strange lumps in the kidney, liver and adrenal gland.

Berlin, Obesity, Gender and an Accelerating Universe

I would like to visit Berlin - I already knew that, as there are a lot of pieces that I have read about the living art in Berlin, from film to sculpture and found art, and performance art - it all seemed to going on. . . then today I read this piece in the Tyee and now I really want to go to Berlin! It says in part:

Sometimes Berlin seems like a huge open-air gallery, or a big art school project by precociously talented students. Street art is everywhere and a lot of it is very good. There's stuff hidden away in dank alleys that would probably be featured on gallery tours back home. Clothing stores and odd shops are almost always worth exploring. There are more cool t-shirts for sale here than anywhere in Europe. And decent restaurants with prices Paris probably hasn't seen since Napoleon.

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On a more depressing note. . . I think I first heard about the issue of gender balance (that is lack of it) in medical studies, at the Vancouver Women's Health Collective and in Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University in the 70's. Now today an Editorial, in Nature, has me, if not confused, at least startled that in 40 years we have not made much progress. The subhead to the editorial titled Putting Gender on the Agenda is: Biomedical research continues to use many more male subjects than females in both animal studies and human clinical trials. The unintended effect is to short-change women's health care. harumph. . . no wonder I try and avoid conventional medicine and prefer alternatives. . .

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Also of interest today - review of a new book called Obesity The Biography.

















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And last, but not least, an interesting article in New Scientist about the accelerating expansion of the universe. . . why does this cause me some anxiety? No idea -- worried about everything ending in 2012 perhaps!
Check out:

Did a 'sleeper' field awake to expand the universe?

More Gaza Links and questions of IHL

Just some new Gaza links - From Reuters A history of Gaza Seige -

A brief history of "the Gaza Folly" by Gershom Gorenberg in American Prospect.

I always thought the Daily Beast was a bit of right wing rag - but waddya' know --- Amazing - Israel flotilla disaster - it is Americans' fault for turning a blind eye!

Great article by Amos Oz - Cannot use weapons to fight an idea.


Very very interesting if the slightly esoteric article and comments on IHL and the Law of the Sea. Interestingly, I learned that "International Humanitarian Law" (IHL) is the law of war (I never knew!) and that there are a number of versions and additions to the Geneva Conventions and that there are lots of debates about who is at war, when, and who is a "belligerent" - what I might think of as a comabatant. This is important because if you are a belligerent - then you have to be treated as a POW and not as a criminal. I also learned though that in today's world these arguments are all about who is a terrorist - because if you are labeled a "terrorist" - then you are not a belligerent. I followed the links and read articles about whether Hamas is a terrorist organization or a state, and whether the seige/blockade is therefore legal. . . more accessible than some other international law arguments I have tried to follow. Highly recommended.

Gaza Flotilla Aftermath and Toxic spills in the arctic

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

International Condemnation is continuing and growing. Two more ships are en route to Gaza (I assume that were part of the original convoy but broke down en route, as one is the Rachel Corrie, which was packed with aid in Ireland) And also en route 40 cars from the UAE - although I have no idea how they are getting to the, I assume, Rafah crossing from Egypt.

All I can think today is that everyone must stand up and be counted or as we all know. . . "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Good recap Story and updates from the NYTimes, titled: Israel Holds Hundreds Seized During raid.

A very good article analyzing the PR impact for Israel can be read at: www.stratfor.com

An analysis of the legal position of Israel - this is either piracy or more correctly an act of war since it was military that made the attack. See Here.

And summarizing the feelings that I have, an opinion piece from the Guardian:

And even the National Post seems to come down on criticizing Israel. . . in this article.

Travers of the Toronto Star on Canada's "too cozy" relationship with Israel. You should write and tell the PM that you want Gaza opened up and Israel to deal fairly with Palestinians. . .

Click here to send an email to Stephen Harper and other Canadian leaders pressuring them to act immediately on this issue - this is a form letter from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.

Now Egypt is opening the border at Rafah. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6502H820100601 but according to Voices and Echoes of Palestine on Facebook - all goods are still being inspected and approved by Israel - and thousands of people are waiting to cross the so-called "open" border. They definietly do not trust Egypt's government.

Returning Activists recount the raid at Haaretz - an Israeli paper.

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Also interesting (and more bad news) as it was news to me. . .
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toxic-spills-put-arctic-under-threat-report-finds/article1585959/