Saturday, March 26, 2011
ecco bella donates to primarily primates
WEST ORANGE, NJ--(Marketwire - March 24, 2011) - Sally Malanga, Founder of Ecco Bella, a natural beauty company providing personal care products that are not tested on animals, has announced that the company will help fund Project Oliver, an online photo series about the life of a chimpanzee named Oliver, and the efforts of Primarily Primates to create an expanded habitat where Oliver and the other primates can climb, play, explore and enjoy an enriched life.
Project Oliver - Episode 3: Introduction to Primarily Primates from Project Oliver on Vimeo.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Ten Year Old Girl’s Letter to Enbridge Denied
Vancouver — Ten-year-old Ta’Kaiya Blaney stood outside Enbridge Northern Gateway’s office today waiting for officials to give her access to the building. She wanted to hand deliver an envelope containing an important message about the company’s pipeline project. But the doors remained locked. Click here for the full story and be sure to listen to her music video .....
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
i just spent a couple of hours searching through the twitter, and i can't find a single libyan who isn't relieved and/or grateful that foreigners are helping them oust gadafi. they seem to be breathing a collective sigh of relief. meanwhile my anti-war and anti-imperialist friends are organizing rallies to protest the action. i'm torn .... i'm never in favour of imperialism, and of course the foreigners are there so they can set up shop and claim the oil etc, but right at this moment it's a tough call. especially because i ultimately believe in peaceful non-violent resistance. clearly that didn't work for the anti-gadafi libyans and now they seem to be better off because there are military personnel actually keeping them safe from the mercenaries. it's a very strange feeling in my stomach, very unfamiliar, and i'll keep watching my libyan twitter friends carefully .... either they really are better off right now, and who knows how long that will last or the long term consequences of depleted uranium that may be in use, or maybe they've all been killed and replaced with cia agents and that's why there's no "yankee go home" sentiment? i'm confused, but watching with intrigue ...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
what DOES democracy look like?
(apologies for the poor recording quality, i couldn't find this on youtube and i'm not quite geeky enough to know how to record it better. also, i realized after i wrote this that the big vote has already been cast and tabulated. but only 40something percent voted? will it be a tyranny of the majority again, after all that uprising?)
On my way home today I cycled past a church with a billboard outside that said “How would you feel if you learned you’d been wrong forever?” or words to that effect.
I’ll let you guess what went through my little atheistic brain.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
For some reason, though, I can’t seem to really get into the spirit of spring. Oh, wait, maybe it’s because, in addition to all the usual pain and suffering in the world, the inequities and injustice, the fact that much of the rest of Canada is still buried under a mountain of snow and too many of them are homeless or impoverished, there’s that unfortunate little reality we call Fukushima. Plus the fact that just yesterday I was bundled up in a winter parka and toque, and today it’s t-shirt and shorts weather. I had resigned myself to the unpredictability of climate change, each day a new surprise, but this new nuclear meltdown invites an entirely different level of consideration.
Friday, March 18, 2011
nuke leak into lake ontario
not a big deal, nuke advocates claim. by now i hope we all know they're f$%ing liars. dr. helen caldicott writes: "Releases of tritium into the water supply should never be considered negligible, certainly not 73,000 liters. There seems to be a feeling on the part on the nuclear industry that the size of Lake Ontario makes contaminating it insignificant. This is not true. Tritium is a danger. See Fact Sheet on Tritium attached to video."
jean-bertrande aristide returns home to haiti!
haiti's coup, and the removal of democratically elected aristide, was also supported by the canadian government - read more here -
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Helen Caldicott's official statement about Fukushima
“I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds”.
Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad Gītā, on witnessing the first atomic bomb test, 1945
As I write this – on the afternoon of March 16 in the United States – the situation at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant No. 1 is, tragically, looking increasingly grim. Radiation levels are increasing, mass evacuations in the area surrounding Fukushima are underway; and experts are speculating – with trepidation, but understandable caution – about how far the radiation will spread, both within Japan and to other parts of the planet.
My heart goes out to the people of Japan who are of course suffering under the double blow of the effects of the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the threat from the Fukushima reactors.
They are dealing stoically and with great dignity with conditions that are severely challenging. And I want to pay special tribute to the incredibly brave band of TEPCO workers who are fighting to bring the situation at the plant under control. Their efforts are heroic, their courage beyond measure.
The world is now paying - and will pay however severe Fukushima turns out to be – a grave price for the nuclear industry’s hubris and the arrogance and greed that fueled their drive to build more and more reactors. What’s more, having bamboozled gullible politicians, the media, and much of the public into believing that it is a “clean and green” solution to the problem of global warming, the nuclear industry has operated facilities improperly, with little or no regard for safety regulations, and they have often done this with the connivance of government authorities.
Nuclear power is not the answer to global warming; it is not clean, it is not green; it is not safe; and it is not renewable. It is instead “a destroyer of worlds.” It is time the global community repudiated it – however economically painful in the short term that taking such a step would be. There is no other choice for the sake of future generations.
Helen Caldicott, M.D.
No Nukes is a global library of information and links about nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear waste contamination, and citizen action for sustainable energy and human survival.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
In 1990 the small island nation of Cuba, itself struggling with an international embargo imposed by the USA, opened a facility at Tarara (near Havana) to help the victims of Chernobyl. Over 18,000 people have been treated since then, and the facility remains open to this day. No news yet whether they've got space for the Japanese. Click here for more information about Tarara.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
BC Hydro wants your opinion on long-term clean energy planning
i like the idea of public ownership of natural resources. that means all of us are shareholders, not just the government or corporate executives of the day, or private business people. we all live on the earth, and the earth's resources ought to be equally available to all of us, not just those who can afford them.
i also like the idea of living simply. for example, i share a two bedroom apartment, ride an electric bike, i'm vegan, i buy local organic vegetables, bulk grains, i reuse whenever possible, compost, and i recycle in the blue box and at the monthly plastics depot. my flat mate and i produce about one small grocery bag of garbage every four months, only because there's nowhere else to put some things.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
stormin' the wisconsin castle
a video, and an explanation of what happened in wisconsin tonight
to watch live, inside the capitol, click here
to watch live, inside the capitol, click here
we're watching, wisconsin!
A crowd in the WI state capitol reacts to news that the state senate has passed legislation taking away collective bargaining rights from state employees.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
This Canada Water Week, March 14-22, Victoria’s environmental organizations are coming together to talk about water – the good, the bad, and the future. View “White Water, Black Gold” by Edmonton filmmaker David Lavallee March 17th at 7 pm, 1923 Fernwood. The film follows David on his three-year journey across western Canada in search of answers about the world’s thirstiest oil industry: the Tarsands. In this film, David exposes the connection between fossil fuels, climate change, human rights, and our depleting water supply. He finds that, from Inuvik to Fort Chipwyan, Hudson’s Bay, and the Pacific Coast, half of Canada’s water is at stake.
Click here for more information about Canada Water Week events.
"White Water, Black Gold" trailer from David Lavallee on Vimeo.
Click here for more information about Canada Water Week events.
"White Water, Black Gold" trailer from David Lavallee on Vimeo.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Let's Mobilize BC-Wisconsin Solidarity
From Gene McGuckin, Vancouver
Sisters, Brothers, and Friends!
British Columbia working people can and must give real support to Wisconsin's embattled working people! We must urge the BC Federation of Labour to mobilize our support into a significant protest rally or rallies for next weekend (Mar. 12-13).
Wisconsinites are under attack by a union-busting Republican state law which would strip public workers of bargaining rights. Unions and their allies are fighting back (see article reprinted below). But we need to help them. On February 26, over 100,000 protesters rallied in Madison under falling snow, and impressive solidarity rallies were held around the country.
Since then, thousands have rallied in dozens of cities and towns around the state. More protests are planned in Madison this weekend. Over a hundred people maintain a 24-7 vigil inside the state capitol building, where thousands camped for more than a week until last Sunday. Democratic state senators have fled from Wisconsin to deny the quorum necessary to pass the law.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
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